Landline switch to digital - engineer appointment

[nickygalea]

I have an engineer appointment soon to do the switchover to fibre.  Can anyone please tell me how long this will take and will I be without broadband while the engineer is here working?  I rely on broadband as I work at home.  Many thanks.

[Zach_R]

Hi @nickygalea,

Thank you for your post and welcome back to our community forums. We're here to help.

I'm afraid I can't give you a definitive timeframe as how long it'll take as that'll depend on what they exactly need to do during their visit, which also applies to your concern about broadband downtime, but it shouldn't take too long and any disruptions should be minimal.

Let us know how the visit and switchover goes for you.

Thanks,
 

[nickygalea]

Hi Zach

Thank you for your quick reply.  I was hoping that somebody might be able to explain to me what this switch to fibre means, what it entails, why it is being done, what services will it affect during the work - will walls need to be drilled, carpets taken up to access phone cables etc?  I did not receive any communication about this, the first I knew of it was when I tried to make a call from my home phone and everyone number I dialled went through to Virgin!  Thinking there must be a fault I called to report this and was told this is because I have to switch to fibre and that I should have responded to the letter from Virgin (which I did not receive, and which I assume would have explained everything).  None of this was explained on the phone.   

Many thanks.

[Zach_R]

Hi @nickygalea,

We have a dedicated page on our Community Forums along with a page with more details on our website for further information, but essentially what the switchover means is that your landline service will instead operate via your broadband router using 21CV technology instead of through the socket in the wall of your home.

This is something that is gradually happening over the next few years which all providers are proceeding with, as outlined in this Ofcom article which offers some additional information for you.

If you have any additional queries or concerns, please let us know and we'll do what we can to help.

Thanks,
 

[nickygalea]

Thank you Zack.

[Zach_R]

Hi @nickygalea,

You're welcome. Be sure to let us know how the visit and switchover goes for you either way.

Thanks,