Nation.Cymru staff
Rural households risk losing their means of communication during prolonged power cuts unless plans to switch off the traditional landline network are delayed, a Welsh MP has warned.
Ceredigion Preseli MP Ben Lake has written to the UK Government and communications regulator Ofcom after constituents raised concerns about the January 2027 deadline.
The Plaid Cymru MP wants the switchover postponed in the most rural areas until planned improvements to broadband and mobile coverage have been completed.
Traditional landline services are being replaced by digital systems which generally carry calls over a broadband connection. Unlike traditional corded phones powered through the telephone network, digital services need a power supply in the home.
Mr Lake said recent storms had exposed the risks for households without a reliable mobile signal when their electricity supply failed.
“The UK Government must intervene to delay the digital switchover in the most rural areas,” he said.
“Whatever the proposed merits of the digital switchover, a household or business should not lose its copper landline connection until such time that a reliable alternative is in place.”
BT plans to retire its Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) by January 31, 2027. The change is being led by the telecommunications industry, with Ofcom responsible for regulating providers.
Ofcom says customers who depend on their landline and do not have a working mobile phone or reliable mobile signal must be offered a free back-up solution enabling emergency calls during a power cut.
That must last for at least an hour, although some providers offer equipment lasting up to seven hours.
Mr Lake argues that the minimum provision is inadequate for isolated communities, where storm-related outages can last much longer.
He said the timetable should instead reflect when households would have reliable alternatives available.
“The UK Government is investing significantly in schemes to improve rural broadband connections and mobile connectivity, and so it would be sensible to align the digital switchover of an area with the completion of these infrastructure schemes,” he said.
Mr Lake has previously raised the issue through parliamentary questions about broadband and mobile coverage.
Broadband
According to government answers cited by the MP, 769 residential premises in Ceredigion Preseli fall below its threshold for an acceptable broadband connection.
A further figure supplied to him estimated that 2,427 premises lacked an acceptable mobile signal from any network provider.
Mr Lake said assurances that existing customers would be offered a replacement landline service did not resolve the question of how they would communicate during a prolonged power cut.
“My underlying hope is that the Government will be persuaded by the facts presented to it and will extend the timeline for rural areas: to delay the switchover until such a time as a reliable alternative is in place,” he said.
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