The Digital Switchover in London: What It Means for Your Personal Alarm
The analogue phone network switches off on 31 January 2027, and alarms that dial out through a phone socket are the devices most at risk. London is the hardest place in Britain to answer this in one sentence, because there is no London council. There are 32 boroughs plus the City of London, and each one runs its own telecare service on its own timetable.
Key facts
- The analogue phone network (PSTN) is retired on 31 January 2027.
- London has 32 borough councils plus the City of London Corporation. Telecare is a borough responsibility, so there is no single London service or plan.
- Inner London uses the E, EC, N, NW, SE, SW, W and WC postcode areas; outer London adds BR, CR, DA, EN, HA, IG, KT, RM, SM, TW and UB. None map neatly onto boroughs.
- Around 2 million people in the UK use telecare, according to the Telecare National Action Plan.
What is changing in London, and when?
Every landline in the country is moving off the old copper network onto a digital connection carried over broadband. Openreach has confirmed it is retiring the analogue phone network by 31 January 2027. London is not on a special timetable and gets no extra grace period.
What differs here is the variation in who is responsible. A flat in Hackney, a bungalow in Bexley and a sheltered scheme in Harrow share the same deadline but have three different upgrade plans, run by three councils using three providers. Some boroughs have finished migrating. Some are partway through. At least one has left the market altogether.
Will my personal alarm still work after the switch-off?
Only if it does not depend on the analogue line. An older alarm places what is effectively a phone call using analogue tones, and digital lines carry those tones unreliably. Some units keep working, some drop the call partway, and some fail without warning, so the pendant lights up as usual while nothing reaches an operator.
An alarm connecting over the mobile network is unaffected. It carries its own SIM and never touches the phone line.
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". That safeguard only operates if the phone company has been told an alarm is in the property.
How do I check whether my alarm uses the phone line?
- Look behind the base unit. A thin cable into a telephone socket, or into the back of a router, means the alarm uses the fixed line.
- Look for a SIM or aerial. A SIM tray, short aerial or label mentioning 4G means it is mobile connected and unaffected.
- Ask on a test call. Press the pendant and ask the operator whether this unit is digital ready.
What about alarms provided by your London borough?
Read this before ringing anyone. Telecare in London is run borough by borough. There is no pan London alarm service, and naming one council as "the" London council would send most readers to the wrong place. Establish which borough the address falls in, then deal only with that borough.
Four verified examples show the range. The London Borough of Bromley runs a service called Carelink and has published a switchover page telling users that "Carelink customers do not need to take any action as the Carelink team will be in touch directly with further information", with a dedicated address, PSTN@bromley.gov.uk, for questions. Croydon Council runs CarelinePlus, says equipment upgrades carry no extra charge, and asks users to tell CarelinePlus as soon as they are given an engineer appointment so the alarm can be tested. Waltham Forest states on its telecare pages that it is "currently replacing all analogue Community Alarms" with digital compliant units.
Then there is the case nobody expects. Ealing Council states plainly that "Ealing Careline closed on 31 March 2024" and that it "is no longer offering an in-house telecare monitoring service", pointing residents to alternative providers instead. If your borough has done something similar, waiting for a council letter will achieve nothing.
For a borough by borough overview, see our London borough telecare and personal alarm guide.
What should London residents do now?
Start by naming the borough. The council tax bill is the quickest proof, with the borough name at the top. Postcode is not reliable: SE, SW and E postcodes each cross several boroughs, and BR, CR and IG were drawn around old towns rather than council boundaries.
Next, search that borough's website for telecare, careline or community alarm, and see whether it has a switchover page. If it does, follow it. If it does not, ring adult social care and ask two questions: is the base unit in my home digital, and if not, when will it be replaced.
Finally, tell whoever bills you for the phone line that a telecare alarm is in use at the address. That flag triggers extra care during migration, and it applies to private alarms as much as council ones.
The one thing to get right in London
Find the borough before you do anything else, and deal only with that borough. Most wasted phone calls in London start with someone contacting a neighbouring council, a housing association or a national helpline about equipment another authority is responsible for. The council tax bill names the borough in one line.
Unsure which borough, or which alarm you have?
Tell us the postcode and describe the base unit. We will tell you whether it survives the switch-off and who is responsible for it.
Telephone 01704 332840 | info@holdengrange.com
Book a free call with HannahFrequently asked questions
Your own borough, and only your own borough. There are 32 boroughs plus the City of London Corporation, each running telecare separately with its own name, charges and timetable. If you are unsure which covers the address, check the council tax bill.
It happens. Ealing Council closed Ealing Careline on 31 March 2024 and now points residents to other providers. If your borough has done the same, nobody will contact you about the switchover, so you need to arrange a digital alarm yourself and make sure it is monitored by a UK alarm receiving centre.
Not reliably. London's postal districts were drawn in the nineteenth century and cut across modern boundaries, so an SE postcode may sit in Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich or Bexley. Outer codes such as BR, CR and HA follow old town names, not councils. Use the council tax bill.
A digital landline stops working without battery backup. Ofcom requires providers to offer at least one hour of access to emergency services, free, to customers who depend on the landline for emergency calls. That protects the telephone, not the alarm, so an alarm with its own battery and mobile connection is more dependable.
Where to start: Name your borough from the council tax bill, check that borough's website for a telecare or switchover page, and tell your phone provider there is an alarm at the address. See our digital switchover guide or pendant alarms for London. 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.