UK councils sound alarm over transition to digital telephone system

UK councils have called on the government and companies to help pay for millions of pounds of upgrades to equipment for their most vulnerable residents ahead of the telecoms industry’s transition to a digital telephone system.

Local government officials said the migration away from analogue products had not been well communicated, and that the high costs for social care users and social housing were hitting other services at a time of severe budget pressures.

The public switched telephone network will be turned off by the end of 2025, with landline calls to be routed over the internet. The shift will also affect devices such as personal, lift and burglar alarms, door entry systems and CCTV.

The PSTN switch-off, an industry-led initiative, comes as local government budgets contend with straitened finances. Three councils in England declared de facto bankruptcy last year and almost 20 per cent have said they are at risk, according to the Local Government Association.

Theo Blackwell, chief digital officer for London in the Mayor of London’s office, said local authorities would feel the “biggest impact” from the transition “because they have the biggest range of systems” and that the UK government’s consideration of how it would affect councils had been “woefully inadequate”.

Greater London Authority Economics, a research arm of the GLA, has estimated that upgrading telecare services for 63,000 adult social care users living at home across the capital’s 32 boroughs will cost £31mn.

In a paper in August 2023, the Department of Health and Social Care estimated that 1.8mn people used telecare services in the UK, some of whom are self-funded. Such services include personal alarms for the elderly, which could help in the event of a fall.

In addition to paying for telecare, councils are also facing upgrade costs for people in supported accommodation and for social housing.

Blackwell estimated that, altogether, local authorities in London could be hit with a bill of between £45mn and £70mn for these upgrades, adding that money spent on the switch-off would “take away resource from adult social care services and other council services”.

A technical assessment of one council block could cost between £10,000 and £25,000, said Blackwell, citing discussions with industry bodies. Local authority-registered providers in England own 1.6mn units, or individual dwellings.

Southwark Council, which is responsible for 55,000 social housing homes and 21 sheltered accommodation units in south London, estimated the digital switch-over would cost roughly £7mn.

Stephanie Cryan, cabinet member for finance, said the project was “taking money out that would provide the services around fire safety, building safety, day to day maintenance of our estates”. 

Telecoms companies “should be putting their hands in their quite deep pockets” to contribute because the migration was for their benefit, she added.

Some copper cables the analogue system runs on were installed in the 19th century and are nearing the end of their lifetime, according to industry. It has said moving to digital networks will enable providers to better meet modern demands.

The Internet Services Providers’ Association, a trade body, said the switch-over would deliver “significant resilience and reliability improvements” and had required “huge investment” from the sector.

Mark Hawthorne, digital connectivity spokesperson at the LGA, said councils in England and Wales needed central government funding to offset the financial impact.

“It is a huge pressure at a time of great pressure already in the system,” he said, adding that many councils had been exploring increasing user fees to cover the cost.

Last year, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority found that when local government in Lancashire introduced charges for telecare services to cover the upgrade costs, 50 per cent of users withdrew from the service. 

In a report last month, communications services provider Gamma Communications and consultancy Cebr found 48 per cent of UK businesses had either not heard about the switch-off or had heard but did not know details about it. Only one-quarter had completed an audit of their PSTN lines.

Meanwhile, consumer group Which? in March found 74 per cent of people with a copper landline connection were unaware of the transition.

Geoff Connell, director of digital services at Norfolk County Council, said the level of uncertainty was concerning.

Local authorities could “find themselves doing less than they would wish to do” because of budget pressures, and that was “if they even really fully understand what the situation is because it has not been well communicated”, he said.

The government in December said telecoms groups had agreed new measures to protect vulnerable customers following “serious incidents” where telecare devices failed after the upgrade process.

Connell welcomed the companies’ commitments, which included not migrating any telecare users until the customer, provider or telecare company confirmed a functioning solution was in place.

He said they would “hopefully limit the risks”. But Blackwell noted that establishing data-sharing accords between local authorities and providers to identify vulnerable people remained complex.

ISPA said telecoms companies had been engaging with affected customers and organisations, including local authorities, to “enable them to prepare”. Some providers would continue to provide analogue products that would be able to work after the PSTN switch-off, and the industry would “continue to raise awareness” of the project, it added.

The technology department said the current copper landline network was an “ageing technology” and that a “secure, efficient” modern network that also protected “the most vulnerable” was needed. The switch-over had been “prompted” by the telecoms industry and the government would “continue to work closely” with industry and local authorities, it added.

Regulator Ofcom welcomed the industry’s pledges around protecting the vulnerable and said it would take action if obligations to customers were not met.