The UK is switching off analogue landlines – what you should know
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has announced that the switch from analogue to digital landlines is now being rolled out across the UK.
The witch is happening as copper networks become increasingly unreliable and spare parts are no longer available, the department said in a statement on Monday (2 June).
Landline companies will send an engineer to carry out the switchover and personally test the telecare alarm, ensuring it continues to work once a household has moved onto the digital network. Landline providers will also offer vulnerable customers a free battery backup device so their landline can continue working in an outage.
Since 2017, UK operators have been carrying out work to retire the decades old copper home phone network and move customers to digital landline services ahead of the analogue switch-off.
Analogue landlines are reaching the end of their service life, becoming increasingly unreliable and spare parts are no longer available. Recent Ofcom data reveals fault rates substantially increased by 45% in 2024.
Elderly to be most impacted
While this change over will impact some landline phones, one of the biggest markets which is likely to be impacted is telecare. These are devices which are placed in the homes of the elderly to check for falls or call for emergency services if needed.
To help address this change over, the government and a major new campaign funded by BT and Virgin Media and backed by the UK government launches today (Monday 2 June), urging the millions of telecare users in the UK– typically elderly and disabled people – as well as their support network to identify themselves so nobody gets overlooked.
Many local authorities and private telecare operators have already signed data sharing agreements with landline providers to ensure that as many telecare users have been identified as possible. With over two-thirds of landlines already migrated, the campaign is the final layer of protection to identify any additional users.
“We cannot afford to leave anyone behind during the vital transition to digital landlines,” said Telecoms Minister Sir Chris Bryant.
“I have personally set a strict checklist of safeguards for industry to comply with before they migrate any telecare user. This industry-led campaign marks a further step towards keeping people safe as we boost the resilience of our networks for the digital age.
“I urge anyone with a telecare alarm – or anyone close to a user of a telecare alarm – to pick up the phone and contact their provider to access the help that’s available,” he said.
