You may have heard that landlines are changing and that the UK’s telephone network is going digital. These changes will affect everyone who has a landline they’d like to keep using.
By January 2027, the old analogue network will be completely switched off, replaced by new digital landlines which work using broadband. In preparation for this change, BT and other home phone providers have been switching customers over to the new technology ahead of the deadline.
Staff from BT will be answering your questions about the digital switchover on Thursday 12th February. If you have any questions or concerns about the upcoming switchover please post them in this topic at any time before 12th February or up to 5pm during the day. We will then post the responses from BT below each question or concern.
With the Digital switchover, what happens if the Digital network fails when you are trying to either get help via 999 or the non-emernacy systems? How are you suppose to get help then.
My landline is with Virgin Media along with TV and Broadband - along with most of the Broadband suppliers Virgin supplied me with a separate emergency battery powered telephone (it actually has it’s own SIM card too) when they changed my landline to digital) so if my broadband goes down for any reason (fault at Virgin or power cut etc) I can use the emergency handset to get help/assistance.
This information from Age UK explains what happens and I found it very useful when mine was changed.
Touch wood I haven’t had any problems since changeover and that was about 2 years ago now.
The digital network is more secure, reliable and more future proof than the analogue PSTN network, which is outdated and failing more frequently. Our Hybrid backup that we provide to any landline customer that lives in an area with mobile coverage works in the event of a power OR broadband outage by using the mobile network. Calls to 999 use a shared mobile network whereby whichever carrier is the strongest carries the call, and will even prioritise emergency calls over other traffic. For those that are landline only, or don’t have access to a fibre broadband service, we use a digital dedicated landline service that still works in a power cut (if their services do today)
Yes thats correct - we (BT/EE) offer a Hybrid Backup phone (the same as Virgin) in those areas with good mobile coverage. For those without mobile coverage or a telecare device we’d provide a battery backup instead