MPs have warned the security minister that plans to switch off the UK's traditional landline network by the end of January next year could leave people in remote areas unable to contact help in an emergency. Dan Jarvis said he would look closely at the concerns and raise them with telecoms firms, while the government and operators insist the move to digital landlines will offer a more reliable service.
Landline operators aim to complete the switch from copper-wire cables to an internet-based network by the end of January next year. The government and operators say the move to digital landlines will offer a more reliable service, and that the traditional analogue network is becoming increasingly unreliable.
However, MPs representing remote areas of the UK urged security minister Dan Jarvis to ensure that scrapping the copper-wire network did not make their communities more vulnerable in a storm or other emergency. Unlike digital services, the traditional landline network does not rely on mains electricity and continues to work in a power cut.
Torcuil Crichton, the Labour MP for the Western Isles constituency of Na h-Eileanan an Iar, said: "Resilience is inbuilt in the islands but we have major problems with connectivity because of this move from analogue to digital phone lines." He said that "when the power goes out people don't have the phone, they don't have the internet and often they don't have a mobile signal either."
Retail service providers have been giving vulnerable customers back-up battery packs that can keep landline phones operating for an hour or more, but Crichton called this "simply not adequate", adding that mobile providers "simply don't have the means to maintain or keep their signal going during storms". He urged the minister to get telecoms firms to "up their digital game" to protect places where people are vulnerable and isolated.
Similar concerns were raised by MPs from the West Country and the Lake District. Markus Campbell-Savours, the Labour MP for Penrith and Solway, asked Jarvis to imagine an elderly constituent living alone in an isolated Lake District valley whose router loses power in a storm, whose back-up battery has failed and whose mobile mast has gone down, with no way to raise an alarm in an emergency.
Conservative MP Julian Lewis also raised concerns about the lack of a "back-up system" if digital phone services fail in a cyber attack or other emergency, telling Jarvis that the copper-wire network "could have given us useful levels of resilience in an emergency".
Jarvis, who is spearheading the government's Be Ready campaign, said telephone networks were "a vital part of our critical national infrastructure" and that keeping people connected was essential to the emergency response. He said he would "look very closely" at the concerns, promised they would be addressed at a government resilience summit due to take place in Cornwall next month, and said he would raise the issue with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Analysis
Why This Matters
- The switch-off removes a phone service that keeps working during power cuts, just as winter storms increase the risk of outages in remote areas.
- Vulnerable customers, including telecare users who rely on landlines for safety alarms, face the biggest risk if back-up power runs out.
- With completion due by the end of January, any changes to back-up power or mobile resilience measures need to be made quickly.
Background
The UK is replacing its legacy copper-wire telephone network, which has carried analogue calls for decades, with digital services that run over broadband connections. Many countries are making similar transitions, but the change has raised questions about reliability in rural and island areas, where power cuts and weak mobile coverage are more common. Providers are already supplying free back-up battery units to vulnerable customers during the migration.
Key Perspectives
Torcuil Crichton (Labour MP, Na h-Eileanan an Iar): says that when the power goes out people lose the phone, the internet and often the mobile signal, and that one-hour back-up batteries are "simply not adequate".
Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour MP, Penrith and Solway): warns of an elderly person in an isolated valley with no way to raise an alarm after a storm, and asks for a new technological solution to protect the elderly.
Julian Lewis (Conservative MP): says the copper-wire network "could have given us useful levels of resilience in an emergency".
Dan Jarvis (security minister): says telephone networks are part of critical national infrastructure, will look closely at the concerns and raise them with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The government and landline operators: say digital landlines will offer a more reliable service because the traditional analogue network is becoming increasingly unreliable.
What to Watch
- The government resilience summit in Cornwall next month, where the MPs' concerns are due to be addressed.
- Whether telecoms firms offer new back-up power or mobile signal solutions before the end-of-January switch-off deadline.
- Whether the government strengthens its requirements for free back-up battery units for vulnerable customers during the remaining transition.
Checked
10 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 7 supported.
Show each claim
- Partly supportedThe security minister said he would raise the resilience concerns with telecoms firms.BBC News: “promised to raise concerns about telecoms firms with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.”
- Partly supportedThe government and operators say the traditional analogue network is becoming increasingly unreliable.BBC News: “The government says the switch to digital phone services is needed because the traditional analogue network is becoming increasingly unreliable.”
- Partly supportedJarvis promised the concerns would be addressed at a Cornwall resilience summit next month.BBC News: “He also assured West Country MPs that their concerns would be addressed at a government resilience summit, which was due to take place in Cornwall next month”
- SupportedMPs warned that the landline switch-off could leave people in remote areas unable to contact help in an emergency.BBC News: “Plans to switch off the UK's traditional landline phone network could leave people in remote areas unable to contact help in an emergency, MPs have warned.”
- SupportedOperators aim to complete the switch from copper-wire cables to an internet-based network by the end of January next year.BBC News: “Landline operators aim to complete the switch to an internet-based network instead of copper-wire cables by the end of January next year.”
- SupportedTorcuil Crichton said, “Resilience is inbuilt in the islands but we have major problems with connectivity because of this move from analogue to digital phone lines.”BBC News: “Labour MP Torcuil Crichton, who represents the Western Isles constituency of Na h-Eileanan an Iar, said: "Resilience is inbuilt in the islands but we have major problems with connectivity because of this move from analogue to digital phone lines."”
- SupportedCrichton said that when the power goes out, people may have no phone, internet or mobile signal.BBC News: “He said that "when the power goes out people don't have the phone, they don't have the internet and often they don't have a mobile signal either".”
- SupportedCrichton called the back-up battery packs “simply not adequate”.BBC News: “But Crichton said this was "simply not adequate"”
- SupportedJarvis said he would “look very closely” at the concerns.BBC News: “Jarvis ... said he would "look very closely" at the Tory MP's point.”
- SupportedJarvis said telephone networks were “a vital part of our critical national infrastructure”.BBC News: “"Our telephone networks are a vital part of our critical national infrastructure and our emergency response in weather-related crisis supports the functioning of essential services and keeping people connected when they need it most," he told MPs.”