Elderly 'Hit by Line Rental Charges' (bbc.com)

An anonymous reader shares a BBC report: Recent increases in line rental charges have hit elderly people the hardest, according to an Ofcom report. Between December 2009 and December 2016, line rental prices had increased by as much as 49% for some customers, the regulator said. And of the people with standalone landlines in their homes, 71% were aged 65 or over. Ofcom recently revealed plans to make BT -- with nearly 80% of the UK market -- cut line rental costs by 5 British Pound ($6.1). A huge proportion (43%) of the 2.9 million households with a landline only are occupied by people aged 75 and over. "Older consumers are particularly affected, as they are more likely to be dependent on fixed voice services if they do not have a mobile phone or an internet connection," the report said.

Comments

Costs of maintaining infrastructure are fixed

[mi]

I guess, the costs of maintaining the wires and the rest of the land-line infrastructure are largely fixed. So, as people — primarily younger ones, according to TFA — drop their traditional land lines entirely, the remaining customers see their fees increased.

Nothing to see here, nothing to do about it. Whoever feels sufficiently compassionate to "do something about it" can subsidize their favorite senior(s) directly — or help them switch to a cell-phone, etc.. I've switched two elderly couples I feel responsible for to IP-telephony years ago — they had mobile phones already — and now they don't even know, their "regular" phones use Internet...