BT Group PLC (LSE:BT.A) said it had delayed plans to force all customers to switch to broadband due to concerns about vulnerable people who depend on telecare or landlines for emergency alarms.
The telecom giant has abandoned an industry-agreed timeline of completing the national switchover by the end of next year, setting a new deadline of end January 2027.
Lobby groups had warned that, unlike copper-based landlines with power, digital-based telecare services stop working if there is a power cut or the internet goes down.
The telecoms industry is upgrading landline services to new fast-fibre technology using an internet connection, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Digital Voice or All-IP telephony.
VMO2 and BT agreed in December to pause the programme “serious incidents” involving the failure of personal telecare alarms.
BT, added, that customers with broadband but with “zero-use” of their landlines will be compulsorily switched over.
Howard Watson, BT's chief security and networks officer at BT Group, said: “The urgency for switching customers onto digital services grows by the day because the 40-year-old analogue landline technology is increasingly fragile.
“Our priority remains doing this safely and the work we’re doing with our peers, local authorities, telecare providers and key Government organisations is key.
“But more needs to be done and we need all local authorities and telecare providers to share with us the phone lines where they know there’s a telecare user.”
Almost two million people use telecare alarms in the UK.