Review Timetable For Phasing Out Copper Wire Landlines

The Government should work with Ofcom & the major telecom suppliers to review the timetable for the switch to digital telephone lines. We believe that doing so by 2025 is totally unrealistic if vulnerable customers are to be protected. The new internet-based system should be phased in over 5+ years.

We think the industry is putting profit before safety. Vulnerable customers, often lacking digital skills, are losing access to traditional landlines despite serious concerns over the reliability of the new system, lack of emergency back-up, and potential costs for households. Some alarms and telecare systems are incompatible with the new system. Silver Voices and Digital Poverty Alliance want the two systems to work in parallel for at least five years so that vulnerable people are not forced to transfer prematurely.

As the PSTN is a privately-owned telecoms network, the decision to upgrade it has been made by the telecoms industry. The Government has no formal role in administering or deciding timelines for the switchover.

Like you, safety is my priority and we have been weighing up options and their implications for public safety. The industry’s decision to upgrade the PSTN is due to necessity as the network is increasingly unreliable and failure prone, with a lack of spare parts and the engineering experts retiring. Therefore, retaining the PSTN rather than migrating customers to a more modern, resilient network would also put people at risk.

Data shows a rising number of PSTN failures, and Ofcom reports that the impact of these failures are increasing. The PSTN is also significantly less energy efficient than VoIP. As such, it would not be appropriate to pass legislation to cease a migration that needs to take place. This would delay a migration that is inevitable and already happening in other countries. Any legislation would also take months to pass, with the migration continuing in the interim.

Outside the UK, other countries have either already switched off their PSTN networks or are in the process of doing so. Estonia and The Netherlands have switched off their PSTN networks, with Germany and France soon to follow.

I agree with you it is vital that operators prioritise customer safety and make arrangements for vulnerable people as part of the migration. This includes elderly citizens; people with mental or physical impairments; or those with other vulnerabilities. Government has taken steps to ensure vulnerable consumers are protected. In December 2023, the Secretary of State for DSIT convened the UK’s leading communications providers to discuss ways to improve protections for vulnerable consumers. In response, the major communications providers have now signed a Charter committing to measures to protect vulnerable households. This charter can be found here - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-switched-telephone-network-charter/public-switched-telephone-network-charter