More UK Providers Commit to Protect Vulnerable Users During Digital Phone Switch UPDATE

The government has announced that seven UK broadband and phone operators, including Openreach, CityFibre, AllPoints Fibre, CommunityFibre, Ogi, KCOM and WightFibre, have today signed a charter that commits them to protect “vulnerable customers” (e.g. those with telecare devices) when upgrading phone lines to a new digital (IP) based network.

The announcement means that the Technology Secretary has now secured agreements from the “majority of the telecoms sector” – from operators in charge of maintaining the network infrastructure all the way to retail ISPs, including Virgin Media (O2), Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, BT, Zen Internet, Vodafone, Shell Energy and KCOM, who agreed to similar mitigations in December 2023 (here).

Just to recap. BT and Openreach are currently in the process of withdrawing their old copper-based analogue line networks (i.e. the Public Switched Telephone Network [PSTN] and Wholesale Line Rental, respectively) by December 2025. A national stop sell on new installations has already begun. KCOM are also doing something similar in Hull, which aims to finish by the end of 2024.

Just to be clear. The above change is an industry, not government, led programme that is partly driven by the looming retirement of copper lines in favour of full fibre (FTTP). Not to mention that modern mobile and IP-based communication services have largely taken over from traditional home phones, which no longer see much use.

In their place, many ISPs are introducing Internet Protocol (IP) based digital phone / voice services, which require a broadband connection in order to work. Put another way, you plug your existing handset into the back of a broadband router (assuming it has a phone port) or Analogue Terminal Adapter (ATA), rather than the old wall socket.

However, digital phone solutions do have the odd caveat, other than being a little bit more complicated to setup. For example, the new services are not remotely powered (i.e. if there’s a power cut, they go down, but then existing DECT systems suffer the same issue) and often don’t work properly with older alarm or telecare monitoring systems. In fairness, the latter is just as much the fault of telecare and alarm providers (i.e. failing to upgrade their systems), but today the focus is very much on what the network and wholesale operators can do to help.

The Charter Commitments

➤ Operators will have to work with partners, including internet providers, to check if their customers own a telecare device.

➤ Operators will provide at least 12 months’ notice to phone providers before enforcing the switchover of a customer and will jointly discuss suitable migration options.

➤ No telecare user will be migrated to a digital landline service without the provider, customer or telephone company confirming that they have functioning solution in place.

➤ Telecom operators will work with Ofcom, Government, and phone providers to create a shared definition of ‘vulnerable’ customer, so it is no longer dependent on the company and establishes an industry wide standard.

Take note that most ISPs with a digital phone solution are already offering optional battery backup options to their most vulnerable customers, and the Government has also asked Ofcom to look again at whether a 1-hour minimum backup remains suitable. One problem here is that the bigger the capacity, the bigger the cost, and somebody has to pay for that. Consumers can also buy a higher capacity power station to do the job themselves (battery backup options).

Some people argue that mobile networks can help to fill this void too, but that’s only true if your chosen operator delivers a good indoor signal to your home (not always the case) and mobile networks often go down during power cuts too (Ofcom are reviewing this). Not to mention that mobile networks don’t usually work with older telecare and alarm systems either.

Technology Secretary, Michelle Donelan MP, said:

“The safety of vulnerable customers comes before anything else and that’s why I called on the industry to listen to concerns and take action to make sure the right protections are in place.

I welcome more telecoms companies joining forces to make this a priority, meaning we now have agreement from those responsible for our telecoms infrastructure and those providing mobile and broadband services.

This will provide much needed reassurance to those relying on these vital devices and I will continue to pressure organisations to do everything in their power to make sure the switchover is seamless and safe.”

Digital Infrastructure Minister, Julia Lopez, said:

“When a person needs urgent medical attention, they must have confidence that their call for help will be responded to as quickly as possible.

The recent incidents that left some people disconnected are unacceptable and must not happen again. The Technology Secretary and I are united in pressuring all those responsible to implement mitigations that meet the needs of the most at risk.

I hope today’s agreement provides some peace of mind to those affected and reassures the millions of vulnerable people in our country that their concerns have been heard far and wide across the whole industry.”

In an ideal world, the UK Government, ISPs and network operators would have set out such a charter years ago, rather than in the last couple of years of an active withdrawal programme. Particularly as many of the issues highlighted above have been known about for the best part of almost a decade. But better late than never.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that BT and Openreach are currently testing an additional (SOTAP for Analogue) phone line product that does NOT require a broadband connection to function, is powered (no need for battery backup) and will be targeted at vulnerable and edge use cases (inc. CNI) users – those with old analogue phone lines who would otherwise “face challenges” in migrating to IP based voice solutions by 2025.

The solution, once introduced, would not be available for new service provisions (only existing customers) and is intended to be a temporary product (possibly running until around 2030). In theory, this would allow more time for people and networks to adapt, but it won’t be launched until later in 2024 and is arriving quite late to the party.

One annoying caveat with SOTAP for Analogue is that it seems to be targeted at vulnerable users, whereas we think this should be extended to include a definition for “vulnerable areas” (e.g. those where protracted power cuts are common and mobile signals are extremely weak to non-existent).

UPDATE 3:19pm

The government (DSIT) has informed us of a mistake in their original release, which stated that Sky were one of the network operators (wholesale) to sign the charter. But apparently Sky has yet to formally sign, although their retail ISP division did sign the previous charter.