The Digital Switchover in Bristol: What It Means for Your Personal Alarm
The analogue phone network is retired on 31 January 2027, and every landline in Bristol goes digital. If a parent or neighbour has a pendant alarm plugged into the phone socket, it may stop being able to call for help. Bristol City Council runs its own service, Bristol Careline, and it is the first place to ask.
Key facts
- The analogue phone network (PSTN) is retired on 31 January 2027.
- Bristol City Council runs Bristol Careline as part of its technology enabled care offer.
- The BS postcode area is affected across the city, from Clifton and Redland to Bedminster, Knowle, Hartcliffe, Southmead, Fishponds, Easton and Brislington.
- Bristol City Council has not published a page about moving Careline equipment from analogue to digital.
What is changing in Bristol, and when?
Openreach is retiring the analogue telephone network by 31 January 2027. Every home line in the city moves onto a digital service that carries calls over the broadband connection, with the handset plugging into the router instead of the wall socket. The number does not change. This is an industry led programme rather than a council decision, though Ofcom and government both have formal roles in how customers are protected.
Bear in mind that Bristol's boundary is tight. Neighbours in Kingswood and Filton come under South Gloucestershire, Nailsea and Portishead under North Somerset, and Keynsham under Bath and North East Somerset. The phone switchover applies to all of them equally, but the council alarm service does not, so check which authority actually covers the address.
Will my personal alarm still work after the switch-off?
It depends on how it connects, and an analogue unit is the one at risk. These alarms dial out using audio tones down a copper pair, and digital lines do not always carry them cleanly. Around 2 million people across the UK use telecare, according to the Telecare National Action Plan published by DHSC and DSIT, and that plan commits that no telecare user should be moved to a digital landline until someone has confirmed a compatible and functioning telecare solution is in place.
The power question is separate. A digital landline runs off the broadband router, so it stops when the electricity does. Ofcom requires providers to give at least one hour of access to emergency organisations during a power cut, and says they should offer battery backup free of charge to customers who depend on the landline to call 999. That is supplied by the phone company and it protects emergency calls, not the alarm equipment.
How do I check whether my alarm uses the phone line?
- Look behind the base unit. A thin cable into a white phone socket means analogue and at risk. A cable into the broadband router means it has already been converted. A power lead alone usually means a mobile unit.
- Work out who monitors it. A Bristol Careline unit is monitored by the council service. Anything else will carry a company name on the base.
- Make a test call. Press the button, say plainly that it is a test, and check the operator can hear you and holds the right address details.
What about alarms provided by Bristol City Council?
Bristol City Council runs Bristol Careline, and unusually for a council service you can order it directly through an online form rather than waiting for a social care assessment. The council publishes the price openly: Bristol Careline costs £3.68 per week plus VAT, billed as £47.84 four times a year, with a £25 setup fee.
Careline sits inside a broader technology enabled care offer that includes fall detectors, medication reminders, home sensors, GPS tracking and smart home equipment alongside the basic alarm. Each of those talks to the base unit, so if the base unit is replaced the peripherals need checking as well.
On the switchover itself, Bristol City Council has published nothing that we can find. Its Careline pages mention that a resident without a landline can order a device that uses a mobile network, which is presented as an alternative option rather than as a migration plan. There is no timetable, no page explaining which base units are affected and no advice for customers whose phone line is upgraded before their alarm is. If Careline is in use, ring the service, quote the address and ask whether that specific unit is digital ready.
What should Bristol residents do now?
Ring the landline provider first and say that someone in the house uses a personal alarm. It takes two minutes and it is what gets the household flagged before an engineer books a visit.
Then deal with the alarm. If it is Careline, contact Careline. If it is a private unit, treat it as needing replacement until confirmed otherwise. A mobile connected alarm removes the landline question, which is useful in the Victorian conversions of Montpelier and Totterdown where the phone socket and the router are often in different rooms. Since 3G is already switched off, any replacement should be on 4G.
The single most important point for Bristol
Bristol Careline can be ordered directly, without a social care assessment, and the price is published. That makes it easy to arrange, but it also means many Bristol households have a unit nobody is actively reviewing. Ring Careline, quote the address, and ask the digital ready question yourself.
Want a second opinion on a Bristol alarm?
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Book a free call with HannahFrequently asked questions
Bristol Careline. It is part of the council's technology enabled care offer and can be ordered through an online form on the council website. The published price is £3.68 per week plus VAT, billed as £47.84 four times a year, with a £25 setup fee.
Not that we can find. Its Careline pages note that a device using the mobile network can be ordered by people without a landline, but there is no published timetable for migrating existing analogue equipment. Contact Careline and ask about your own base unit.
Probably not. Bristol City Council's boundary is tight, so Kingswood and Filton fall under South Gloucestershire, Nailsea and Portishead under North Somerset, and Keynsham under Bath and North East Somerset. Check which council covers the address before ringing Careline.
Yes, across the BS postcode area. Our monitoring centre is in Southport and serves the whole UK, so Clifton, Bedminster, Southmead, Fishponds, Hartcliffe and Brislington are served the same way. Alarms are posted out and set up at home, with no assessment.
Where to start: ring Careline or your alarm provider, tell your phone company an alarm is in use, then plan a digital ready replacement. See our SOS pendant alarms in Bristol page, our digital switchover guide, or read what the 2027 landline switch off means for personal alarms. The timetable is published by Openreach. Call our UK team on 01704 332840.
Holden Grange is a UK telecare provider based in Southport, a TSA member and certified under the TEC Quality Standards Framework. Our alarm receiving centre is UK based and operates 24 hours a day.