The Digital Switchover in Hull: What It Means for Your Personal Alarm
The UK's analogue phone network switches off on 31 January 2027. If a personal alarm in Hull plugs into a phone socket, it may lose the ability to call for help once that line is converted. Hull City Council runs its own Kingston Care lifeline service, and in this city the phone company doing the switching is KCOM rather than BT.
Key facts
- The analogue phone network (PSTN) retires on 31 January 2027, roughly six months from now.
- Hull City Council runs the Kingston Care lifeline service for Kingston upon Hull.
- Hull covers the HU postcode area: HU1 to HU9 across the city, with HU10 upwards reaching Anlaby, Cottingham, Hessle and Hedon.
- Hull's incumbent landline provider is KCOM, not BT, so switchover letters here differ from the rest of England.
What is changing in Hull, and when?
The copper telephone network is being retired. Openreach has confirmed it is retiring the analogue phone network by 31st January 2027. After that, landlines run over a broadband connection instead.
Hull is unusual. Almost everywhere else the physical phone network belongs to Openreach. In Hull and much of the East Riding it belongs to KCOM, successor to the old Hull Telephone Department, which is why the phone boxes here were cream rather than red. KCOM runs its own migration to the same deadline and has signed the government's PSTN Charter alongside BT, Sky and Virgin Media O2. Its switchover pages report around 60% of premises upgraded, and ask anyone who has "a telecare device or rely on your landline for care or emergency support" to get in touch first.
Will my personal alarm still work after the switch-off?
It depends on how the alarm sends its signal. An older analogue unit dials out over the phone line, much like a telephone call. Once that line becomes digital, some units carry on, some drop calls, and some fail silently. Silent failure is the dangerous one, because the pendant still lights up when pressed.
A digital alarm using a mobile signal is not affected. It carries its own SIM and does not care whether the house has a phone line, a router or neither.
One national protection is worth knowing. The Telecare National Action Plan commits that "no telecare user will be migrated to digital landline services without the communication provider, the customer or the telecare service provider confirming that the user has a compatible and functioning telecare solution in place". It only works if your provider knows an alarm exists, which makes telling KCOM the most useful thing a Hull household can do.
How do I check whether my alarm uses the phone line?
- Look at the back of the base unit. A thin cable running into a telephone socket, or into the back of a router, means the alarm uses the fixed line. If the only cable is the power lead, it is almost certainly a mobile unit.
- Look for a SIM slot or an aerial. Digital units usually have a small SIM tray, a stubby aerial, or a label mentioning 4G.
- Do a test call. Press the pendant, wait for the operator, and ask outright which network the unit uses and whether it is digital ready.
See also our guide to whether a personal alarm needs WiFi or a landline.
What about alarms provided by Hull City Council?
Hull City Council runs its lifeline service in house. Its own website states that the "Kingston Care lifeline service is run by us", monitored from the Kingston Care control centre, and it is open to council tenants and private householders alike. The published charge is £5.10 a week, or £6.12 including VAT, and new users apply through the Independent Living Team on 01482 614 300. Equipment follows a short assessment.
Hull is one of the councils that has published something about the switchover rather than staying quiet. Its digital phone switchover page for telecare users tells customers plainly: "As a Lifeline user, please do not panic. More information will be available in the coming weeks about this, and we will update you." It points residents to KCOM's own information and warns about scam callers using the switchover as a cover story. What it does not include is a dated timetable for replacing each Lifeline unit. If a Kingston Care alarm is in the house, the Independent Living Team is the right first call, and it is fair to ask whether that particular unit is already digital. The council's telecare pages are the place to start.
What should Hull residents do now?
Work out who supplied the alarm, because that decides who must upgrade it: Hull City Council, a private company, or nobody at all if it was bought outright years ago and is no longer monitored.
Then tell KCOM, or whoever bills you for the line, that there is a telecare alarm at the property. Households across HU postcodes are migrated in batches, so a neighbour in Kingswood being switched last month tells you nothing about your own date. Finally, be sceptical of callers claiming to be switchover engineers who want payment or bank details.
The one thing to do this week
Tell KCOM that someone in the house uses a telecare alarm. In Hull it is KCOM's records, not Openreach's, that decide whether your property is flagged for extra care before the switch. One phone call, free, and the step almost everybody skips.
Not sure whether your alarm is digital ready?
Our team can tell you in minutes whether an existing alarm will survive the switch-off.
Telephone 01704 332840 | info@holdengrange.com
Book a free call with HannahFrequently asked questions
The council has not published a unit by unit inventory, so the honest answer is that it depends on when your equipment was fitted. The Kingston Care lifeline team knows what is installed in your home. Ring 01482 614 300 and ask whether your base unit is digital ready.
Hull has its own telephone network, run by KCOM rather than Openreach, dating back to the municipal Hull Telephone Department. The 31 January 2027 deadline is identical, but your letters, engineer visits and support all come from KCOM, which also makes KCOM the company to tell about a telecare alarm.
Those areas sit in the East Riding of Yorkshire, so council telecare there is arranged by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, not Hull City Council, even where the postcode is still HU. A privately supplied digital alarm works identically across the whole HU area.
Yes, and it is the calmer way to do it. A mobile connected alarm works whether the house is still on the old network or already switched, so there is no gap and no rush on the day an engineer calls. Delivery to Hull addresses is by post, with setup by phone.
Where to start: Check the back of the alarm for a phone cable, tell KCOM there is a telecare device at the property, and if the alarm came from the council, ring the Independent Living Team. For background, read our digital switchover guide, see pendant alarm options for Hull, or read what the 2027 switch-off means for personal alarms. 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.