News
A new deadline of January 2027 has been set, allowing more time for vulnerable customers to prepare for the switch-off
BT has confirmed today that it will delay the switch-off of all copper-based phone lines across the UK until 2027, two years later than originally planned.
The news was hidden deep in the company’s full year financial results for 2023, but has been confirmed again in a separate press release this morning.
The delay will apply to all customers, both business and consumer.
The analogue networks are decades old and are increasingly difficult to service, with replacement parts hard to source.
The delay follows a wave of concern over the exposed vulnerability of predominantly elderly customers, who rely on landline-based medical and security alarms. While these systems can also work over digital landlines, they are vulnerable to power cuts or other outages, unlike legacy copper connectivity.
Around 2 million people in the UK currently use these devices.
Last December, companies including BT and Sky agreed to stop the forced switchover onto the digital lines after several incidents involving telecare devices were reported. In April this year, BT’s Consumer division started switching zero-use landline customers who have a broadband connection to its Digital Voice landline service.
“The urgency for switching customers onto digital services grows by the day because the 40-year-old analogue landline technology is increasingly fragile. Managing customer migrations from analogue to digital as quickly and smoothly as possible, while making the necessary provisions for those customers with additional needs, including telecare users, is critically important,” said Howard Watson, Chief of Security and Networks at BT.
“Our priority remains doing this safely and the work we’re doing with our peers, local authorities, telecare providers and key Government organisations is key. But more needs to be done and we need all local authorities and telecare providers to share with us the phone lines where they know there’s a telecare user,” he continued.
All customers are expected to be moved off the analogue network by January 2027.
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