Bell land line migration to fibe

[Viv]

I received a letter notifying me that Bell is intending to discontinue landline services as of October 5, 2022!

Given the recent Rogers fiasco, as well as the fact that I had requested my land line be resumed after repeated problems with Fibe telephone, I'm very surprised that this is allowed to happen.

Is anyone else worried about this development?

[MACinLDN]

I would like answers to the following questions:

1) Does Bell power its Fibe network independently of the electricity grid, as it does with its copper network?  In other words, does the network continue to work in the event of a widespread (e.g. October 2003) power failure?

2) If I install a UPS for my Fibe modem, will my phone line work in the event of a power failure?

3) If I have battery backup for my intrusion alarm system, and install the UPS noted in #2 above, will my alarm system continue to send signals to the central monitoring station during a power failure?

Thanks.

[dks]

I believe it does, to a point. Cell service works in a power outage, but not all cell sites have standby generators. Cell sites are often connected by fibre, so that should stay up. If you install a UPS, phone service will last as long as the battery in the UPS does. 

[nd]

I have a home phone with bell, no internet. The phone has had static (no dial tone) and I've been told the only way it will be repaired is thru fiber hook up. Does a non-internet phone need fiber or is that being done incase I want fiber internet (I don't)? Does that mean it's going to need a special fiber optic modem to connect to my phone line?

[name]

I needed to contact repair services today at Bell. What I was told frankly scares the heck out of me.

The agent informed me that as of November 1st my phone line will be moved to a battery-operated fiber service whether I approve or not. If I do not migrate my line, I will lose it on November 1.

They also confirmed that in a power outage their digital replacement line will NOT work (no 911 and no access to my apartment building)

I am a 75 year old woman who lives alone, on 13th floor of an apartment in Mississauga and my phone line is literally my life-line. Power outages, dropped calls, gaps in internet access are regular occurrences.

I HAVE MY PHONE ONLY FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES WHICH WILL NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE.

I NEED MY PHONE SERVICE TO BE MISSION-CRITICAL - COMPLETE RELIABILITY IS A MATTER OF LIFE SAFETY and SINCE WE EXPERIENCE POWER OUTAGES ON A REGULAR BASIS, THIS IS A FRIGHTENING "upgrade".

What if I fall or suffer a heart attack and cannot connect to emergency services, family and friends, or even let emergency services into the building.

So, if I go to bed and wake up in the middle of the night to a dark apartment and if I've left my cell phone in the kitchen or the battery is dead I suppose it's OK by the phone company if I die as a consequence?

The CRTC MUST force the phone company to provide fully reliable services to all citizens and, unfortunately neither digital land lines nor cell phones provides the necessary quality and reliability of service. And the public is not adequately informed and is unable to comprehend just how their lives are put at risk by these policies.

I am astounded that the CRTC has allowed this situation to exist. Obviouisly the benefits have nothing to do with the people who pay for the services. And that's disgusting.

[Roman]

Has anyone else been notified that Bell will be shutting down residential service on their copper network on November 1? There is nothing wrong with the copper network and it will probably be around long after I'm gone. I don't want the over-rated Fibe network, because I'm sick to death already of all of the upsell calls I'm receiving. This is a cash grab, plain and simple, and I'd like to have the choice of retaining my current set-up.

[BCD]

Yes, this is being forced on us.  Be careful to plan ahead and be prepared to be without a phone for several days if you stick with Bell and make the transition.  I won't bother you with all the gory details, but we made an appointment to make the switch and a technician came and installed all the hardware on Wednesday and the phone is still not working and won't be until Sunday at the earliest.  I believe (but am waiting for our phone to finally work to be sure) that the transition will also reduce your 3rd party internet options, since some of them use the Bell DSL lines.

[WelshTerrier]

Bell is not shutting down the copper network unilaterally across all of their territory. Bell is converting from copper to fiber to not only improve service reliability but to also eliminate aging copper infrastructure. Will this happen over night? Definitely not! Once fibre infrastructure has been installed, it would be to everyone's best interest to move over to fibre. This will allow for expanded & more reliable services.

I converted from copper to fibre & I am not looking back. I still have choice & it has been a positive experience!

[BCD]

They may not be doing it everywhere right now, but it is just a matter of time.  I also received the letter stating that the copper lines would be shut down on 1 November, so those of us in the affected areas do not have any choice.  I only have a Bell phone and not Bell internet, so this is definitely not an upgrade. For example, when the regular electric power goes out, the fibe phone service will now also be lost, unlike the copper lines which supplied their own power. The services may be expanded, but that also means there are more things to go wrong. As I noted above, the conversion is not going smoothly for me, entirely due to problems on Bell's side, and I currently have had no phone service at all for 3 days and counting.

[Sam12]

I went online a few days ago to change an option on my land line home phone, the option was changed and now my phone and internet are no longer working and Bell support seems to only want to discuss changing my services to bell Fibe. Has anyone experienced this?

[jjpmel]

 It

But what about people in areas with weak cell signals, or when there is a power failure that lasts longer than your backup battery does, or if there is a problem such as Rogers had?  In those cases you are left with no way to contact emergency services or anything else!!!

[dks]

Unfortunately there is little that can be done. 

[bruno3]

What Patricia is not telling you is that, when you are force to switch to the new Fibe line it comes at a much higher cost.  Traditional phone line (while my line is 45 dollars). New Fibe like start at 60 dollars and if you can't afford it well too bad for you. My mother is a senior and she is worried that her home phone is going up. My mother has vision problems and can't use a cell phone.  But evil Bell Canada does care it is all about profits. When Patricia says, " Landlines are simply being migrated over to fibre to the home".  What she means is the price of a home phone is migrating out of reach of many people.

[dks]

Bell has two calling plans for lines on Fibe. One is $54 and one is $70. When I went to Fibe there was no change in my bill. 

[bruno3]

Dear dks,

How is it you know the exact price of bell Canada's phone lines but you don't work for bell? Bell Canada must love customers like you. 

To clarify what I  said before was my current home phone is 40.83 plus tax which comes to exactly 46.17. So bell's fibe home phone is 54 plus tax which is 61.02. So thanks for correcting me. The point you and bell are missing is many people already can't afford a home phone and go without it. So even a 10 or 15 dollar increase means more people will not have a phone line. Bell Canada provides an essential service and should make it afford for everyone.  But what I will do now is cancel my bell home phone.Which I had for 18 years. It is the only thing I can do to protest the evil corporations lust for more. But I think bell will be happy that one more customer is off the old phone service. 

[dks]

I looked at my bill and then at Bell's web page to answer your question. My own bill did not change at the move to fibre. Many people have moved to cell phones and tablets. We all make choices on how we spend our money, though. What many have forgotten, and what is behind the move to fibre, is that copper wireline telephone service was regulated. Providers could not charge what they wished but were required to seek regulatory approval for every rate increase. OTOH, Fibre service is not regulated, allowing for providers to set their own rates at the cost of doing business without any regulatory approval.  Copper is also old technology which will no longer be maintained. Kind of like when railways went from steam engines to diesel motive power in the 1950's. And we are all free to switch providers at our own leisure.