The UK’s traditional telephone network, the copper-wire system known as PSTN, is being switched off for good. Every landline in the country must move to a digital service by 31 January 2027. For most people it’s a simple change, but there are a few important things to check, especially if you or a relative rely on a telecare alarm.
What’s happening?
For over a century, landline calls travelled over copper wires to your local telephone exchange. That network is old, expensive to maintain and increasingly unreliable. It’s being replaced by digital phone lines that carry calls over your broadband connection.
BT calls its service Digital Voice. Other providers have their own names, but they all work the same way.
What will change for me?
For most households, not much:
- Your phone plugs into your broadband router instead of the phone socket on the wall. Your provider will tell you how, and many send an adapter.
- You’ll usually keep the same phone number.
- Most existing phones still work, including cordless ones.
- Call quality is often clearer than before.
Providers are moving customers exchange by exchange, and you should get a letter or email before your line is switched.
Check these devices
Some equipment is connected to the phone line and may need attention:
- Telecare and personal alarms, such as pendant alarms for older or vulnerable people
- Burglar and fire alarms that dial out to a monitoring centre
- Card payment machines in shops and businesses
- Lift emergency phones, door entry systems and fax machines
If you have any of these, contact the company that supplies or monitors them and ask whether they’re ready for digital lines. Many older telecare alarms need replacing or testing after the switch.
What about power cuts?
This is the biggest difference. Old copper lines carried their own power, so a corded phone kept working during a power cut. Digital landlines need your router to be powered.
- If you have a mobile phone with signal, you can use that in an emergency.
- If you don’t have a mobile, have no signal at home, rely on a telecare alarm, or are otherwise vulnerable, tell your provider. They must offer a battery backup unit that keeps your phone working for at least an hour, free of charge for those who need it.
Watch out for switchover scams
Criminals use big changes like this as cover. Remember:
- Your provider will write to you before switching your line.
- Nobody needs your bank details to move you to Digital Voice.
- Don’t let cold callers into your home to “upgrade your line”.
- If in doubt, hang up and call your provider on the number on your bill.
💡 Helping an older relative? After their line has been switched, test their telecare alarm. Press the button and make sure the call goes through to the monitoring centre.
Business customers
Businesses need to plan too. Check alarm systems, card machines, lift lines and any analogue phone systems. It’s also a good moment to review whether a cloud phone system (VoIP) would suit you better than a traditional landline.
Wrapping up
The landline switch-off is mostly painless: plug your phone into the router and carry on. But check alarms and telecare devices, ask about a battery backup if you need one, and never give bank details to anyone calling about the switch.
