Helen calls for landline leadership as new report published

Helen Morgan has called on the Government to “correct course” and act to safeguard vulnerable residents as the copper landline phone network is switched off.

It comes as a new cross-party report is published criticising successive governments for their handling of the digital switchover which will see customers moved from the existing analogue landline network to new fibre services.

The Digital Communities All-Party Parliamentary Group, chaired by Helen Morgan, published its findings from an investigation into the digital switchover in a report titled Care to Connect on Monday.

The report’s publication comes three months after Storm Darragh knocked out many power connections in Shropshire, leaving residents in places with poor mobile phone signal with no means of communication. This is because unlike the analogue network, digital phonelines do not work when power is lost.

Family members and friends had to come to the rescue of vulnerable residents in areas like Welshampton, where mobile signal is particularly poor, when power was lost in December.

The risk is heightened for residents whose Telecare devices rely on the landline network.

The digital switchover has been left to communication providers to manage and deliver. However, the APPG’s report argues that this “approach creates a complex landscape in what is a technical project with deeply personal repercussions.”

Helen Morgan, Chair of the APPG and Liberal Democrat MP for North Shropshire, said, “The digital switchover should be known and understood by every resident - both here in Shropshire and across the country - to ensure the most vulnerable in our communities are protected.

“A digital transformation project of this kind cannot be allowed to be led by industry operatives alone.

“Successive governments have not provided leadership or coordination to this programme, and it is now time for this new government to correct course. The risk to life if residents are not safely migrated is very real, as we saw when Storm Darragh hit here in Shropshire.”

Over the past 12 months, government ministers have increased their involvement in the digital switchover following concerns about residents’ safety, including a small number of fatalities.

Forced migrations from analogue to digital landlines were paused from December 2023 to January this year at the request of the Government.

However the APPG report wants the Government to do more, including contributing to the planned national Telecare campaign which is now believed to have been delayed from spring to summer 2025.

While the APPG supports the principal of a national campaign, evidence presented during its inquiry criticised the lack of coordination between providers and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Further evidence raised the potential risk of an increase in scam activity, and there is growing concern that this will only worsen as a result of the national campaign. Concern was also raised on the overreliance of residents to self-identify as ‘vulnerable’, where campaign resources and information would be hosted, if the Government will co-brand the campaign or not, and that not all providers are aligned to support activity.