Campaigners have accused the Government of caving into telecom giant’s demands by agreeing that forced transfers from traditional landlines to digital telephones can recommence without safeguards.
Over 60s group Silver Voices alleged this will take place in the New Year “without promised and robust” safety measures in place.
Its director Dennis Reed said: “It appears that the Government has been browbeaten by the powerful telecom companies into agreeing a forced roll-out plan for digital telephones which is riddled with safety defects.
“Once again, the concerns of older people have been ignored by this Government and our requests for consultation have been rejected out of hand.”
Minister Sir Chris Bryant had announced in the summer that non-voluntary switchovers would not start until next year and when he had approved enhanced safety measures to protect vulnerable customers.
But Silver Voices said a new deal agreed will allow non-voluntary migrations to start again on a small scale “focusing on customer groups who are least likely to come to harm”.
Mr Reed said: “We have no confidence that this plan will protect all those who are potentially vulnerable and rely on their landline in the event of an emergency. This plan sucks and we will do all we can to undermine it.”
The UK's traditional landlines are being replaced by digital landlines, which use the internet to make calls.
The migration of millions of landlines is set to be completed by January 2027.
Silver Voices believes that no landline for an older person should be switched off until personal contact has been made with the customer to identify vulnerabilities and ensure that appropriate safety measures are in place.
The campaign group warned digital telephones are not as reliable as traditional landlines.
It said: “They go down when there is an internet outage or a power cut, and not everyone has a mobile phone, or a mobile signal, if they need to make an emergency call. Enhanced safety measures that were promised are still not available and it is therefore rash for the Government to give the go-ahead for any compulsory switchovers.”
Silver Voices has asked for consultation on the new agreement before it is put into practice
The Government has been contacted for comment.
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A spokesman for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: “The digital migration is an industry-led process driven by necessity. The analogue landline is becoming increasingly unreliable due to its ageing parts, and leaving vulnerable people on this network is unsafe.
“We are doing whatever it takes to make this necessary transition as safe as possible. Only last month, we agreed the industry must complete a strict checklist of safeguards. We have also written to local authorities and telecare companies urging them to work collaboratively with government and the telecoms industry to put customer safety at the heart of this migration.”
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