Ofcom secure BT changes to protect vulnerable UK users during digital phone switch

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has closed a compliance remediation process it had for broadband and phone provider BT, which reflected some weaknesses that the regulator found in the provider’s handling of vulnerable customers during the switch from analogue to digital (IP-based) phone services. Changes have now been made to fix this.

The switch-off on the old Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) is currently due to reach its conclusion on 31st January 2027. As a result broadband ISPs, phone, telecare providers, councils and consumers have been working to migrate everybody across (details). But the main focus of this remains on the people who use vital home telecare systems (e.g. elderly, disabled – vulnerable users), which aren’t always compatible with newer IP-based digital phone services (telecare providers were slow to adapt).

Ofcom has naturally been busy monitoring the wider industry’s compliance with this process and in February 2026 they raised some concerns over BT’s own migration programme, specifically an outbound calling campaign that the provider was using to migrate customers (i.e. where BT proactively contacts customers to help with the switch).

The regulator identified several problems with this campaign, including that BT’s published policy for protecting vulnerable customers wasn’t sufficiently clear and their staff could incorrectly identify whether a customer used telecare equipment. In addition, if a telecare customer’s service stopped working after migration, restoration could potentially be delayed or handled inconsistently.

The good news is Ofcom are now satisfied that BT has made positive changes to tackle all this, which they say “sufficiently [addresses] the concerns we identified and [secures] meaningful additional protections for vulnerable customers“. The case has now been closed after BT made the following improvements:

BT’s Digital Phone Switchover Campaign Improvements

➤ Introducing further safeguards to better verify migrating telecare customers before orders are progressed. This includes additional system alerts and improved agent training to ensure greater consistency of agent behaviour.

➤ Strengthening welfare restoration processes for vulnerable customers, ensuring that support is provided consistently and without unnecessary delay. These include:

a. incorporating new system alerts to prompt agents where internal escalation and restoration of service for vulnerable customers are required;

b. strengthening post-migration checks for telecare customers;

c. introducing new measures to support proactive review and (where necessary) escalation where there has been a fault on a customer’s line; and

d. refreshing and delivering improved agent training.

➤ Reviewing and updating BT’s published vulnerability policy to provide greater clarity on how the impact and effectiveness of its policies and procedures for vulnerable customers are monitored and evaluated.

Finally, the regulator confirmed that BT had already “implemented the majority of these measures“, with final systems and policy changes due to be implemented by the end of November 2026. Ofcom will of course continue to monitor all of this to make sure that the changes are effective. Other providers, such as Virgin Media, have also faced scrutiny for mistakes made during the digital phone switchover.

Most UK people have already been transitioned to newer products, with Openreach reporting at the end of July 2026 that just 1.5 million UK lines (down from 1.9m in June 2026) are still operating on legacy phone services, including roughly 350,000 business premises.