The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has reached an agreement with telecoms operators that it says will provide protection over the digital switchover for vulnerable people using safety alarms.
This follows a swelling of concern over the effects on telecare, of which the alarms account for a significant element, of the move from analogue to digital.
DSIT said the companies will be required to offer an engineer visit to vulnerable customers, who will personally test the vital alarm and ensure it continues to work once a household has moved on the digital network.
In addition, Telecoms Minister Chris Bryant has called on telecoms companies to complete a strict checklist of safeguards before transferring customers from old analogue phone lines onto a digital network, reducing the risk of them being disconnected during the migration.
This includes ensuring that no telecare user will be migrated to digital landline services without the communication provider, the customer or the telecare service provider confirming that the user has a compatible and functioning telecare solution in place.
DSIT has also published guidance for communication providers on identifying and supporting vulnerable customers during the switchover.
Maximising resilience
In a roundtable at techUK’s London HQ attended by representatives from the sector including BT, Virgin Media, Vodafone and Sky, the minister also urged companies to extend the power of battery back-up solutions beyond the existing one-hour minimum, maximising their resilience as far as possible and access to emergency services in the event of a power outage.
Providers agreed that non-voluntary upgrades would start on a smaller scale before rolling out more widely.
Bryant commented: “While this migration is necessary, it is vital the industry gets it right, and makes sure the most vulnerable are protected.
“This has kept me up at night and a priority that I have put at the forefront of my work since stepping into office. I am pleased telecoms companies, central government, and local authorities are working in lockstep to achieve customer safety.”
Welcome step
Theo Blackwell, chief digital officer for London, said: "This is a very welcome step from Government to ensure the safety of vulnerable residents.
“For some time local authorities have warned that the hands-off telecommunications industry approach under-estimated the complexity, costs and risks involved in identifying, replacing and testing hundreds of thousands of life-saving devices in peoples' homes in London and across the country.
“We must now continue to work together to ensure all industry providers work in a consistent way and lessons can be learned so future infrastructure modernisations can be worked on collaboratively, as we build a fairer and more prosperous city for all Londoners.”
Bryant also agreed the first charter with telecoms companies providing services to critical national infrastructure (CNI), such as the water and energy industries, whose services may also be affected by the switchover. This includes an escalation mechanism to allow concerns relating to the switchover to be raised with the Government, ensuring continued safe provision of these services.
Telcoms operators are planning to turn off the public switched telephone network (PSTN), on which many telecare devices for vulnerable people operate, by the end of 2025, although some have now extended the schedule into 2027.
Nearly two million people in the UK are said to use sensors and alarms to alert service providers – some in local authorities or charities, others in the private sector – for when a person has fallen or there are signs the person being at risk in their home.
