NBN installation and the elderly

An elderly relly (82) is a already in a tiz over the NBN although nothing has happened. He will not get a computer but realises some of their uses, he gets a friend to google for information for him while he hangs on the phone and takes notes (?!). He is terrified of the prospect of his landline being replaced, he already hates the NBN although he has had very little to do with them, they have not started the process in any way and have had no chance to mess up yet but the idea that change will come some time in the future fills him with dread.

He knows that the fixed line will be replaced by a different kind of wire and it will have a modem. The disquiet this brings on suggests that somebody told him these plastic boxes will steal your soul come Walpurgis night. I cannot see any way that the NBN (or anybody) will ever make him happy about this unless they announce policy has reversed and that nothing will change, even then he would grumble about having his peace (or piece) of mind disturbed. Not all the challenges of implementing new technology are technical and organisational.

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Yes, our leadership easily forgets about human consequences except when it’s their job on the line, dear voters.

We had similar issues for the proceeding 12 months with our MIL. From the weekly letters saying the phone was going to be cut off, and would you like Foxtel with your data pack and fee wireless modem?

Now it is all over and with some prior info from these forums we found that you can get just a phone only plan that fear has now gone. Until the modem fails sync or some one bumps the power cord?

On the soap box:
It would have been simpler to offer an all in one phone option with the modem and P.S. built into a fat base on a standard T1400 or similar. At least the current option provides for streaming when free to air is turned off.

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NBN is rolling out in a town near us - visiting elderly friends and relatives - similar stories. Rushed and poor set-up in house for NBN box & phone, constant Scam calls from people pretending to be Telstra or the NBN. It is horrible how they frighten these people who have not had a computer, or rarely use one. Visiting now is interrupted by these calls. I tell them to hang up, but they are concerned that it is an important call (“He’s from Telstra dear”), even if the man gets abusive; I take over if they let me and terminate it.

Some rushed installations - eg couple in their 80’s, he’s just had a triple by-pass and 000 calls the week before. The young technician told them the phone they had between the kitchen and lounge for 20 years had to be moved. The NBN box was installed with the power cords going around the bathroom door, plugging into the only power point. The box was on a wobbly metal shelf that stuck out with sharp edges and she has slash marks on her arm from going past it. The phone is dangling from the box & power cord on the floor. The phone didn’t work, the Tech advised they needed to buy a new one, but this was the “new” one! The Tech intimated that they had got all they were going to get in hardware & time. They trust Telstra too much, and are convinced that it is their fault / problem that this does not work. They have engaged an electrician to put in another power point on the wall so they can close their bathroom door and rung a retailer to buy a new phone and have it installed where it had sat for 20 years. They don’t have a computer.

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It’s saddening to read what happened here @zackarii. It sounds all too common.

There was good feedback in this thread. In response we arranged for one of the family to be with my MIL for everything to do with the NBN change over. From the Telstra shop and order thru to the install. In the end it was successful. MIL has turned 90. It’s left to the imagination how it may have turned out without our support.

Telstra or any other NBN provider should know better. They choose not to learn.

At least one other retired family member has already bid Telstra farewell and is ignoring the NBN. Mobile and data plan is so much simpler and less costly.

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Absolute shocker :cry:

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Similar experience with NBN installer people and a close ageing relative of mine. HFC on the power pole in the street, and they come to the door and ask where she wants the termination to go, telling her that if it is delivered overhead adjacent to the power it will block the driveway - of course she says no. Turns out ‘block the driveway’ means the small box they wanted to mount on the side wall would protrude 25mm or so, and could have been mounted high enough not to worry the car at all. Instead the feed now comes down the pole, underground across the concrete driveway which they had to cut and re-fill, then nearly 20 metres underground across the full width of the block following the footpath, through the concrete footpath which they also cut and filled, up a garden bed then along the side fence to the back of the house diagonally opposite default feed in location, up a wall, across the enclosed top of a gate, back along a brick wall and down to the feed point - which could not be further from a useful location. When it is activated it will no doubt be a few hundred to drag a feed back to where it would have been. Now it’s a done deal.

So many unsolved crimes, and here’s these geniuses wasting away as NBN contractors …

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Visited an elderly (94 year old) lady today and we had a talk about connecting to the NBN. She received a letter indicating that her property is now NBN ready and has now also had contact from Telstra suggesting she makes the switch.

While I said that she has heaps of time to make a decision, she also needs to way up her options as she don’t use any data (no internet connection and currently only has a landline for external communications).

I indicated that moving forward, there are a number of options:

  • have no phone (not practicable for a elderly person as a phone may be a lifeline)
  • replacement the existing landline with a NBN phone line (without data)…Telstra has NBN packages for landline only of $55/month inc. unlimited calls within Australia. Possibly cheaper elsewhere? Downside, the standard NBN phone doesn’t work in blackout/electricity loss conditions.
  • replacement the existing landline with a NBN phone line (without data), and request a special battery backup system. Monthly phone costs would be similar, but installation and ongoing maintenance potentially more.
  • ditch the landline and buy a senior’s mobile with a cheap monthly SIM (such as TPG which is unlimited Australian calls for $19.99).

After some discussions, for a senior that doesn’t use data, a mobile option may be the best option. While there are downsides (change management with different technology, notifying friends/regular contacts of new number and no landline, more regular recharging or device compared to cordless phones etc), there are also a number of advantages (significantly cheaper in the long term, network access everywhere she goes, ability to have emergency button senior phone which could provide protection when out and about, ability to be contacted/checked on at any time etc).

I expect that there are many other seniors who don’t use any data and have migrated to a NBN landline as this was seen as the ‘best’ option to replace previous landline technologies. It appears that this may not be the best solution for such seniors and it may be better for them to consider moving to a mobile only solution. As many consumers now seem to pay for unlimited Australian calls, the costs of calling phone mobiles (or making calls) is not a significant factor anymore.

Food for thought…and suspect the NBN may lose potential phone only customers when other also cotton onto the mobile only option.

@BrendanMays maybe Choice could consider an article in Choice comparing NBNlandline only with a mobile only solution. I am sure than many of it’s senior readers may be interested in the results. It could also compliment the senior mobile phone review that Choice does regularly.

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$55 a month for fixed line and as an example with a BYO phone + $15 a month with an ALDIMobile S plan with unlimited calls & SMS within Australia it would seem ludicrous to actually get a fixed line phone as long as the user can use one.

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For anyone well acquainted with seniors what is obvious or logical to the rest of us sometimes fails the test of “no change is best”.

Fear of change or plain stubbornness, or call it what you like seniors deserve respect. Even if it means accepting a second rate outcome, the NBN land line upgrade is still better than a mobile for some.

Some seniors are adaptable, given a little guidance and support. Although my father’s mobile knew only two states. Flat battery! Or turned off, except when he wanted to make a call. His confidence improved 10,000% with a landline, providing the number was written down next to the handset. In this instance does it really matter how much the service costs?

There are several great mobile phone handset options for seniors, as well as more expensive NBN services with mobile fall over.

My Mother-in-law in her 90’s is also worth considering. With poor eyesight and strong willed, change is not an option. We tried. The NBN arrived and after umpteen letters in the mail and phone calls she did not understand the response was simple. B-/## the NBN, they can take the phone, I don’t want one. With coaxing the NBN has been connected, and the installer directed to connect the old Telstra handset and place it exactly where it has always sat on a low table.

While the FTTN has no battery backup or fall over to the mobile network, she is happy, the phone rings and calls are made. There comes an age where the failure of the phone system is far less likely than that of some vital body part.

Some might see this a little hard, hoping an elderly person might immediately reach into their pocket for their mobile, dial 000, and be saved. For a few that may be possible.

The one certain cruelty in this is Telstra and others asking any senior to pay extra because the NBN has been installed, compared with their old copper landline costs.

P.s. of course the pattern of consumers needing to pay more after the NBN arrives is not just unique to seniors. 51billion excuses! Or $7,000 per connected customer.

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Something like the following is the only thing that makes sense to me, for seniors unable or unwilling to switch to NBN or use a standard mobile phone. This plus an Aldi, Boost, Woolworths or whatever SIM would seem to be logical.

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From Facebook:

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