Landline providers have launched a campaign to ensure that more than two million people are not “left behind” in the UK’s shift to digital.
The telecommunications industry is currently turning off the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), the technology underpinning the landline network.
By 31 January 2027, the PSTN will be fully retired across the UK and the switch from analogue to digital or IP (internet protocol) services will be complete. To date, two-thirds of landlines have already migrated.
The reason for the switch, according to the government, is unreliable, ageing copper networks and the difficulty of servicing the networks because of a lack of spare parts.
According to Ofcom, 2024 saw a 45% increase in the number of PSTN incidents reported.
Claire Gillies, consumer CEO at BT Group, said: “Moving customers onto newer digital services is a necessary step as the reliability of the 40-year-old analogue landline technology is increasingly fragile – therefore the time to act is...