Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that rural households are offered appropriate mitigation measures before being switched from analogue to digital telephone services.

The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks arising from the industry-led migration of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for all customers across the UK.

The Government has published guidance for communication providers on providing vulnerable customers with supported journeys where necessary. This includes customers who are landline dependent, perhaps due to living in rural locations with less mobile connectivity. Communication providers have committed in the Non-Voluntary Migrations Checklist that these customers will be provided with a battery back-up unit for use in case of a power cut.