Concerns for the elderly in North Yorkshire as landlines change by 2025
Telecom companies are making it more digital
We are hearing about concerns for the elderly across North Yorkshire as landlines are set to change by 2025.
The old copper phone network will be switched off in two years, meaning phones will instead need an internet connection to make calls.
Louise Cramond is from Age UK North Yorkshire Coast and Moors, which is based in Scarborough, and she said: "For older people the traditional landlines for a lot of them are their only form of communicaition, not all of them, but a lot of older people particularly moving towards the 80s and 90s, are still often connected by the landline and they don't have internet or mobile phones.
"They don't have that technological knowledge. They might not have a grandson or a granddaughter to actually sort the phone out or show them how to use it. There are often people that could be isolated, living alone and then all of a sudden you have to make this huge change.
"If you're suddenly going from someone who's had their landline in the hall or by their chair to all of a sudden they've got to have a router put in, they've got to have a power pack, they've got to understand how to dial the phone to get through, it's all very worrying and difficult for people.
"For a lot of older people their phone line is their only contact, their only way to contact people whilst they're in their home. I think people will move over, they have no choice, but I think it's going to be a difficult transition."