Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the public switched telephone network switch-off on rural communities in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.

The Government is determined to ensure that any and all risks incurred during the industry-led migration from the analogue landline network to voice over internet protocol are mitigated. On 18 November 2024, the Department published guidance for communication providers on how to identify and support customers when their landline migrates. This includes customers who are landline dependent, many of which live in rural communities.

The Department also published a checklist of activities that communication providers should take before migrating customers to voice over internet protocol without their active consent. We expect providers to meet the safeguards set out in this checklist to keep customers – including those in rural communities - safe throughout the migration.

Ofcom reports that 2024 saw 45% more service incidents on the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) compared to 2023, resulting in a 55% increase in the number of service hours lost. Retaining the PSTN would increase the risks of outages which would have a negative impact on consumers.