By 2027, the UK’s analogue landline infrastructure will go digital and some devices will stop working – please check with your telecom provider whether you might be affected.

This article was published in the County Times, 15 February 2025, and can be found here.

As those of us over a certain age will well know, the technology we use to stay in touch with each other has changed an incredible amount over our lifetimes, and it will continue to change.

I want to draw attention to a vital issue that will be affecting constituents in Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr: the switching of landline telephone services onto the broadband network.

With a constituency as large and as rural as ours, with many people living in isolated communities, this is a crucial issue for me as your Member of Parliament.

As such, my office and I have been attending events around Parliament to learn how to help constituents best manage this transition, including a session last week with the Local Government Association, Age UK, Citizens Advice, and the Digital Poverty Alliance.

Between now and 2027, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) will be discontinued. We have a privatised telecommunications network in the UK, so this switchover is being led by industry – it is not the result of government policy.

Telephone providers will move their customers from analogue landlines, which are
beginning to fail as they age, to a new digital system using fibre technology. This will make our phone lines easier to hear, more reliable, and fit for the decades to come.

This change will impact everyone with a landline, many of whom will be older. It will particularly impact those who need care, but live at home, and use telecare systems like a personal fall alarm or monitoring devices. It was estimated last year that less than 40% of landlines are still analogue.

Usually, these systems are acquired through the council or NHS directly, but if you have done so independently, you need to get in touch with your phone provider as they will are reliant on the old landline network and will eventually stop working.

Another problem for rural constituents is that digital phone lines will not work in a power cut without a backup power source, unlike traditional landlines, although your provider has a responsibility to ensure access to emergency services.

While pricing for landline services is a commercial matter, BT and Virgin Media have both said customers will not pay more when they are migrated.

If you are reliant on your landline and have not yet been made aware of the switchover, I would encourage you to get in contact with your phone provider. As always, my office is ready to provide support.