Major phone upgrade could affect thousands of North Wales households
It will mean landline calls won't be able to be made during a power cut and will impact services such as medical alarms and telephone boxes
Elderly people could be left with no communication during power cuts after a major phone upgrade by BT which will lead to all calls being made over the internet by 2025.
Millions of customers will be pushed online for the first time or forced to rely on a mobile phone instead.
The upgrade also removes the ability to make landline calls during a power cut which the National Grid has warned could happen more often as a result of increased demand.
It will also impact other services that rely on the existing telephone network such as medical alarm systems, phones in lifts, payment terminals and red telephone boxes.
But experts have raised concerns that millions of older and vulnerable households who are not online, do not have a mobile phone or live in a rural area with poor connectivity are at risk of being left behind.
Around two million homes across Britain do not have access to the internet while another half a million households do not own a mobile phone.
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https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/major-phone-upgrade-could-affect-21912165