Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to establish minimum standards for battery back-up of Digital Voice services during power outages; and what assessment they have made of whether these minimum standards are sufficient for rural areas.

The Government is determined to ensure that any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for all customers across the UK.

In November 2024, providers agreed to safeguards in the Non-Voluntary Migrations Checklist including requirements to provide resilience solutions (e.g., battery back-up) for vulnerable customers, including the landline-dependent and those living in rural areas, to enable access to emergency organisations for at least one hour in a power outage. After discussions with government ministers, a number of communication providers have gone beyond this minimum, providing battery back-ups of 4-7 hours.