the uk's copper phone network is being retired, with a national deadline of 31 january 2027. for most homes that is an ordinary upgrade. for a home with a fall pendant, a care line or a monitored alarm, it needs a conversation first.
the reason is simple. those devices were built to dial a monitoring centre over the old analogue line. move the line to digital without checking, and the pendant can look completely normal, lights on, battery full, and still reach nobody when it is pressed.
that is the part worth understanding, so here it is properly.
the 24-hour battery is not the battery that matters
most alarm base units have their own backup battery, and the number on the box is often impressive. 24 hours, sometimes more. that number is real and it is not the point. once calls run over broadband, the alarm dials through the router. if the router has no power, the alarm can stay lit all night and still reach nobody.
what the rules actually say
ofcom requires every phone provider to offer at least one solution that keeps a customer able to reach 999 for a minimum of one hour during a power cut at their home. it has to be free to customers who depend on their landline, and in practice it is usually a battery backup unit for the router.
it is worth being straight about the limit of that. the requirement is about reaching the emergency services. the government's own telecare action plan is clear that there is no separate regulatory duty to keep a telecare device connected. so the backup helps, but the real safeguard is checking the alarm itself works on the new line before the old one goes.
the industry is not treating this lightly. in december 2025 ofcom fined virgin media £23.8 million over its handling of telecare customers during the migration, after finding it had failed to properly identify who used telecare and had gone on to disconnect customers who did not respond. under the charter the major providers have since signed, no telecare user should be moved to a digital line until someone, the provider, the customer or the alarm company, has confirmed a working setup is in place.
who counts as landline dependent
you do not need a formal diagnosis or a social care assessment. broadly, it applies if any of these are true of your household:
a pendant, a fall alarm, a care line or any monitored device that dials out on its own.
no mobile in the house, or a mobile that never holds a signal indoors.
a medical, mobility or disability-related reason to rely on the phone in the hall.
four things to do
- tell us, before your switch is arranged. ring 01403 214069 and say there is telecare in the house.
- tell your alarm provider too. they know whether your model works over a digital line or needs replacing, and we cannot answer that for their equipment.
- ask about a battery backup if anyone in the house depends on the phone for emergencies.
- test the alarm after the switch, and again after any backup unit is fitted. a real test call to the monitoring centre, not just a light on the base unit.
common questions
yes, please do. ring us and tell us whose line it is. we would far rather hear it twice than not at all.
not where telecare is on the account. we will not complete the switch until a working setup has been confirmed.
it keeps the router and the phone line up for at least an hour, which is what lets someone call 999. whether your specific alarm then dials out correctly depends on the device, which is why the alarm provider needs to be in the conversation.
same principle. anything that quietly dials out over a phone line needs checking with whoever supplied it. it is the devices nobody thinks of that cause the trouble.
only the power cut part. if you have a mobile with signal at home you are covered. if you do not, ask us about a backup anyway.
