BT has extended the deadline to migrate customers from the copper-based Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital landlines to give vulnerable people, including telecare users, more time to make the move.
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The former state-owned British telecoms monopoly had planned to move customers to internet-based services by the end of next year but says it will now move businesses and consumers off the analogue system by the end of 2027.
The consumer department at BT has already started the transition to the fixed Digital Voice service for customers who have a broadband connection. The decision to push back the deadline follows the introduction of a UK government statute to protect vulnerable customers, particularly those using TeleCare.
Under that program, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology urged all telecoms providers not to force vulnerable customers, including the elderly, to take the plunge until improved protections are in place.
