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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with BT regarding the planned timescales for closing the Public Switched Telephone Network in 2025; and what assessment they have made of the feasibility of this plan following the recent decision to request BT remove Huawei equipment from its network.

The retirement of the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and its replacement with Internet Protocol technology, is being led by Openreach and Virgin Media, as the relevant infrastructure owners. As this process is being led by industry, the department has no current plans to regularly update parliament on their progress.

Openreach and Virgin Media have publicly set out their plans to withdraw these services by the end of 2025. On 14 July, the UK Government announced measures relating to Huawei following the additional US sanctions placed on the company by the US Department of Commerce. The Government advised full fibre operators to transition away from purchasing new Huawei equipment. It will be for the operators themselves to make the commercial decisions necessary to comply with the Government’s decision.

In June this year, the Broadband Stakeholder Group launched the ‘Future of Voice’, a consumer-facing website to inform the public of the PSTN switchover process. The website has been developed with the support of DCMS, Ofcom, and telecoms companies.

DCMS regularly engages with the telecoms industry, Ofcom, and other Government departments on PSTN withdrawal, to discuss the impact this will have on consumers, business and public services and plans for migration to Internet Protocol technology.