Is the phone upgaded as well?

[#1]

I was upgraded to 21CN this afternoon and whilst doing so my phone was down about 15 minutes. I wonder if BT are upgrading the phone line as well?

[#2]

Yes.
You don't get a choice - but it should be done at night-time because when an exchange is upgraded all calls (including 999 calls) are barred for a few minutes.

[#3]

No your phone is still on the old PSTN. The 21CN (the phone side) is being installed over the next  2 to 3 years. The reason that you lost the phone is that the jumpering in the exchange had to be changed. The old jumpering is from the PSTN equipment to the ADSL (DSLAM) and then from the DSLAM out to your line. For WBC (ADSL2+) the DSLAM is being replaced by a MSAN. So the jumpers have to lifted from the DSLAM and shifted to the MSAN.

[#4]

This is rather off-topic but http://www.chubbcommunitycare.co.uk/latest-news-and-events/bt-21cn-telephone-network-upgrade/ has got some scary things to say about 21CN:-

Quote

21CN Testing Programme BT have provided test facilities to telephony equipment manufacturers so that the equipment can be tested on a simulated representation of a 21CN network in order to demonstrate their level of compatibility. The testing focuses’ on the main changes of 21CN:     * Balanced ringing – this can affect older equipment in such a way that the equipment may no longer recognise the incoming ringing signal.     * Line lengths – the maximum length of telephone lines from the exchange will increase from 6km to 10km, and may result in lower speech volumes and potentially unreliable communications.     * Reduced line current – the telephone line current available for equipment in the home has been reduced from 40mA to 25mA – performance of receiver and hands free may be reduced.   * End to end delays – the new network will have a higher nominal end to end delay and this is likely to increase over time as new digital services are added and the network load increases; this will cause some protocols to operate unreliably and may result in alarm calls not getting through to the alarm receiving centre.

[#5]

I hope that that is all scare mongering, either that or it's being looked at so that these things don't happen