BT will hold more than 40 events around London this November and December to help raise awareness of the change from analogue to digital landlines by the end of January 2027.
Starting on the 5th of November, the company will be holding events throughout the month to visit communities in and around the capital to talk to customers about how landlines will be changing over the coming years. This will include the steps affected customers will need to take and the support available.
Moving customers to digital phonelines – which, for most customers, will see calls made over a broadband line – is being prioritised urgently by telecoms providers as the 40-year-old analogue landline technology is becoming increasingly fragile.
The events – with some held over two days – will be in locations including:
Byfleet – 5th – 6th November, 10:00 and 16:00 – St Mary’s Community Centre, Stream Close, Byfleet, KT14 7LZ
Watford – 14th – 15th November, 10:00 and 16:00 and 11:00-16:00 – Holywell Community Centre (Small Hall), Chaffinch Lane, Watford, WD18 9QD
Barnet – 22nd November, 10:00 and 16:00 – Chipping Barnet Library (Community Room 1), 3 Stapylton Road, Barnet, EN5 4QT
Ealing – 3rd – 4th December, 10:00 and 16:00 – Ealing Central library, Ealing Broadway Centre, Ealing, W5 5JY
Tower Hamlets – 12th – 13th December, 10:00 and 16:00 – Idea Store Bow, 1 Gladstone Place, Roman Road, London, E3 5ES
[Full schedule of BT’s 45 events included in notes to editors]
Vicky Hicks, Senior Engagement Manager at BT, said: “We’ll be visiting London throughout November and December to speak to our customers face-to-face and answer any questions they may have about the essential upgrade from analogue to digital landlines.
“The landline is here to stay, and for the majority of customers, making the switch simply means plugging your phone into a broadband router instead of into a wall-mounted phone socket. This will bring new benefits like advanced spam call blocking. On average, we prevent 19,500 scam calls a day from reaching our customers.”
From this autumn, BT will be offering a new, more advanced battery back-up unit, which enables digital calls to be made in the event of a power outage. The new battery – available free to customers with additional needs – is smaller and lighter than the current version and features a standby mode which can be used during prolonged power cuts.
BT recently announced an update to its timetable for moving all customers off the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and onto digital landlines by the end of January 2027, outlining a series of improvements to better protect vulnerable customers and those with additional needs, including telecare users.
It also confirmed that customers who identify as vulnerable, have additional needs or who use a telecare alarm system will not be switched until Spring 2025 at the earliest. This allows time for data sharing agreements with local authorities or telecare companies to be in place and in-home support for telecare users to become available.
The company also announced plans to offer a dedicated landline service for customers who don’t use broadband from the Autumn. This will allow customers to use their landline in the same way as they do today until a digital solution becomes available, or 2030, if that comes sooner.
BT is working with local authorities, the telecare industry and government bodies to ensure vulnerable customers are identified and can be supported with the necessary steps to make the upgrade in the future.
