Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of switching off the Public Switched Telephone Network in 2025 on rural areas with poor broadband connectivity.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services (the Public Switched Telephone Network’s replacement) require a minimum stable connection speed of just 0.5Mbps in order to function correctly, and voice-only services will still be available to consumers in the UK who do not wish to purchase a general internet connection. Thus, even in the small number of rural areas with poor broadband connectivity, the migration will not have an impact on most consumers’ ability to use digital landlines.

More importantly, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration does not affect the universal service obligations set in the Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003 which require the designated providers to offer telephony services throughout the UK. BT and KCOM are therefore still required to maintain access to a range of telephony services as well as provide a series of special measures designed for users who have a disability.

As a response to complaints from customers, BT announced this week that it will pause the forced migration of customers until new products are available that provide greater power resilience. For more information you can read the full announcement here.

Whilst the upgrade of UK landlines from the PSTN to VoIP technology is an industry-led initiative, the government and Ofcom are working together to ensure consumers and sectors are protected and prepared for the upgrade process.

As of September 2021, 99.6% of premises in the UK were able to access a decent broadband connection from either a fixed or a fixed wireless access broadband connection. Properties without a decent broadband connection may be eligible for a connection under the broadband Universal Service Obligation. The Government is also investing £5bn as part of Project Gigabit to ensure the hardest-to-reach areas in the UK receive coverage.