London — UK Landline Switchoff Draws Emergency-Access Warnings From MPs

Members of Parliament told security minister Dan Jarvis this week that the UK's planned switch from copper-wire landlines to internet-based digital phone lines could leave residents of remote areas unable to call for help during power cuts and severe storms, according to BBC News.

Landline operators aim to complete the national switchover to digital landlines by the end of January, the BBC reported. The government and telecoms operators say the new network will be more reliable than the aging copper system. MPs representing island, coastal and valley constituencies told Jarvis the change could instead strip away a backup that has kept phones working when the power and mobile signal both fail.

Why MPs say remote areas are at risk

Labour MP Torcuil Crichton, who represents the Western Isles constituency of Na h-Eileanan an Iar, told Jarvis that "resilience is inbuilt in the islands but we have major problems with connectivity because of this move from analogue to digital phone lines," according to the BBC. Crichton said that when the power goes out, residents "don't have the phone, they don't have the internet and often they don't have a mobile signal either."

Crichton said retail providers have been distributing battery backup packs to vulnerable customers, which can keep digital landlines running for an hour or more, but called that provision "simply not adequate," adding that mobile providers "simply don't have the means to maintain or keep their signal going during storms," the BBC reported.

What happens to phones during a power cut

The traditional copper-wire landline network draws its own electricity through the phone line itself and keeps working in a power cut, unlike internet-based digital phone services that depend on a powered router, the BBC reported. That distinction is at the center of the MPs' complaints: once copper lines are retired, a storm that knocks out mains power and a mobile mast simultaneously could leave a household with no way to dial for help.

Labour MP Markus Campbell-Savours, who represents Penrith and Solway, asked Jarvis to "imagine an elderly constituent living alone in an isolated Lake District valley where copper phone lines have been replaced by fibre," where "a storm takes out the power to their router in the night and by the time they wake, the modest battery back up has failed, as has the mobile mast," according to the BBC. Campbell-Savours asked whether the minister shared his concern that such a resident "would have no way to raise an alarm in an emergency" and whether a new technological solution was needed to protect elderly residents.

"The storm is 70 miles an hour" — Torcuil Crichton, MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, describing conditions in which islanders could lose phone, internet and mobile signal at once, per the BBC.

Conservative MP Julian Lewis raised a separate concern: the lack of a "back-up system" if digital phone services fail during a cyber attack or other emergency, telling Jarvis the copper network "could have given us useful levels of resilience in an emergency," the BBC reported.

How has the government responded

Jarvis, who leads the government's Be Ready campaign urging households to stock supplies for emergencies, said he would "look very closely" at Lewis's point, according to the BBC. He told West Country MPs their concerns would be raised at a government resilience summit scheduled for Cornwall next month, and said he would flag telecoms firms' performance to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Jarvis called telephone networks "a vital part of our critical national infrastructure," the BBC reported.

Similar warnings about protecting vulnerable customers during the switchover were raised by MPs in December 2025 and in March 2025, according to the BBC's earlier coverage referenced in its report.

What to watch

• Whether the January switchover deadline holds or slips as resilience concerns mount.
• What telecoms firms announce ahead of the Cornwall resilience summit next month.
• Whether Ofcom or DCMS impose firmer backup-power or battery-life requirements on providers serving remote and storm-exposed areas.
• Any updated guidance for elderly or isolated customers beyond the current battery backup packs.

Glossary

Copper-wire landline network — The traditional analogue phone system that carries its own low-voltage electricity through the line, letting it function during a power outage.

Digital landline (VoIP) — An internet-based phone service that routes calls over broadband and requires a powered router to operate, as described in the BBC's report.

Switchover — The industry- and government-backed process of retiring copper-wire lines nationwide in favor of digital/fibre-based phone service, with UK completion targeted for the end of January, per the BBC.