Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of safeguards implemented by the telecoms sector to ensure that risks arising from the migration of the Public Switched Telephone Network to Voice over Internet Protocol are mitigated for people, including rural communities.

The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks from the industry-led migration of the copper based Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for everyone across the UK, including rural communities. In 2024/25, there were over 2,600 major incidents on the PSTN, each affecting 500 or more customers.

In November 2024, the Government secured additional safeguards from the telecoms industry. These include the provision of free battery back-ups for vulnerable and landline dependent customers to ensure access to emergency services for at least one hour in a power outage. Many communication providers have gone further, providing battery back-ups of 4-7 hours.

In March 2026, the Government and industry agreed a new Fixed Telecoms Charter to extend these safeguards to all future fixed telecoms modernisation programmes.