BT made my life ‘go downhill’ by taking away my landline, says Gogglebox star

A Gogglebox star has said BT made her life worse by taking away her telephone landline.Mary Killen, an etiquette expert who found fame on Channel 4’s reality TV show, said her quality of life had “gone downhill” since BT Openreach carried out a compulsory digital upgrade on her home-phone system.The telecoms giant is one of many rolling out “Digital Voice”, a system overhauling Britain’s analogue copper cables in favour of a fully digital network reliant on broadband routers.BT and other providers had been aiming to complete the transition to a fully digital network by 2025, but the deadline was pushed back to 2027 amid safety concerns.The rollout was paused after some customers were unable to dial 999 during Storm Eunice in 2022 as power cuts caused internet connections to stop working and mobile batteries to go flat.Emergency health pendants and burglar alarms linked to landline infrastructure could stop working unless users upgrade their phone systems.Killen claimed BT removed her landline service altogether “without instruction or consent”.However, a succession of engineers had failed to resolve teething issues with her new, Wi-Fi reliant landline cutting out.The workers are said to have blamed the lack of connection in her bedroom on the old Wiltshire cottage’s thick walls, despite her having a clear connection in the decades before.‘Matchmaking suffering’Writing in The Spectator, she said: “For decades, I had spent many happy hours per day lying in bed (like Mrs Stitch, my role model) organising jobs and romantic partners for friends, jigsawing together the data – unearthed by long-form chatting over the copper landline – to make the matches.”Killen said her ability to matchmake had suffered as a result of the overhaul, as well as her ability to talk things through with others over the phone.“So, without a copper landline, my quality of life has gone downhill. Not only can I no longer matchmake but I also can’t resolve things so easily,” she said.“I like being able to think things through by talking them through. Truths emerge from extended conversations, especially when, as in the psychiatrist’s chair, there is no eye contact.”BT and other providers had been aiming to complete the transition to a fully digital network by 2025, but the deadline was pushed back to 2027 amid safety concerns.“Only those with landlines had any idea of what was going on in the outside world,” Killen said, referring to Storm Eunice, adding: “Now, landlines of the sort which could be relied upon during national crises of the past will cease to exist.”BT offers free battery back-up units, hybrid phones and in-home assistance but fears remain over people in remote locations being cut off.‘Disruptive impact’After halting the transition following concerns raised by The Telegraph in 2022, Marc Allera, BT’s chief executive of consumer brands, apologised and conceded the firm had “underestimated the disruptive impact this upgrade would have”.But BT said it would nevertheless press ahead with the rollout for the network had become obsolete and unreliable.Telecom companies have argued that fibre-optic cables allow for better quality calls, greater energy efficiency and integration of AI to better protect customers against scammers.But Killen, who is married to artist Giles Wood, questioned why BT should have changed a winning formula for the worse.“The old system wasn’t broke, so why did we have to fix it?”Brought up in Northern Ireland, Killen has written several books and pens The Spectator’s agony column but found mainstream fame on Gogglebox, where viewers watch her watching TV.A BT spokesman said: “While we were sorry to read about Mary’s experience, we can’t comment on her case without her customer details.“We’ve attempted to get in touch with Mary but haven’t heard back. We’d encourage her to contact us so we can understand which provider she’s with and if BT can help.”The telecoms providers said it contacts customers at least four weeks in advance before migrating on to Digital Voice.