The Digital Switchover in Manchester: What It Means for Your Personal Alarm
The analogue phone network is switched off on 31 January 2027. Personal alarms that dial out through a phone socket are the devices most at risk. Manchester City Council runs a community alarm service with a 24 hour team, and Greater Manchester's combined authority has published switchover advice that names telecare directly.
Key facts
- The analogue phone network (PSTN) is retired on 31 January 2027.
- Manchester City Council runs the community alarm service, delivered by its Community Alarms and Technology Enabled Care team, known as CATEC.
- The city sits in the M postcode area, with SK, OL, BL, WA and WN covering Stockport, Oldham, Bolton and the towns further out.
- Published charges are £4.43 a week for monitoring and £6.44 a week for monitoring and response, with free installation.
What is changing in Manchester, and when?
Every landline in the country is moving off the copper network onto a digital connection carried over broadband. Openreach has confirmed it is retiring the analogue phone network by 31 January 2027.
Conversions run in batches, so a household in Chorlton may be switched long before one in Moston. The visible change is small: the telephone plugs into the router rather than the wall socket. What needs attention is everything else that shared the line. Manchester has a great deal of older sheltered housing and low rise blocks in Wythenshawe, Gorton and Harpurhey where pull cords, door entry and alarm units were all wired for a network that is being retired.
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, which digital lines carry unreliably. Some units keep working, some drop the call, and some fail with no outward sign, so the pendant lights up as normal while nothing reaches an operator.
An alarm connected over the mobile network is unaffected. It has its own SIM, never touches the phone line, and behaves the same before and after the change. Ours work that way, monitored from our own UK alarm receiving centre, where 99.6% of alarm calls are answered in under 60 seconds.
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 works only if the provider has been told.
How do I check whether my alarm uses the phone line?
- Turn the base unit round. A cable into a telephone socket, or into the back of a router, means the alarm is on the fixed line.
- Look for a SIM or aerial. A SIM tray, a short aerial or a 4G label means it is mobile connected and unaffected.
- Ask on a test call. Press the pendant and ask the operator whether that unit is digital ready.
Our article on what happens when a telecare alarm stops working explains silent failure.
What about alarms provided by Manchester City Council?
Manchester City Council runs a community alarms and assistive technology service with published prices: £4.43 a week for monitoring only, £6.44 a week for monitoring and response, and free installation. The way in is simply to "call us to discuss" on 0161 234 5001, which is unusually straightforward compared with councils that insist on a full assessment first.
Behind the scenes, the service is delivered by Manchester City Council's Community Alarms and Technology Enabled Care team (CATEC), hosted by Manchester Local Care Organisation and operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For some devices residents can self refer, while others, such as GPS trackers, need a referral from a health or social care professional.
On the switchover itself, Manchester City Council has not published a page for telecare users, and there is no public timetable for changing home equipment. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has filled some of that gap for the whole city region. Its switchover page states that "services that rely on the old landline system such as home phones and healthcare devices will be switched over", and advises that if you or someone you know "uses a telecare device connected to a phone line (such as a fall monitor, lifeline, or personal alarm), you should notify your communications provider". That is city region guidance rather than a Manchester City Council plan, so it tells you what to do without telling you when your own box gets changed. For that, ring 0161 234 5001.
What should Manchester residents do now?
Establish who supplied the alarm: Manchester City Council, a housing association, or a private company. That determines who must confirm it will still work.
Then follow the combined authority's own advice and notify your communications provider that a telecare device is in use at the address. It is free, it takes one call, and it is the step that puts the household on record before the line is converted.
The one thing to get right in Greater Manchester
An M postcode does not mean Manchester City Council. M6 and M7 are Salford, M33 is Trafford, M25 is Bury and M34 is Tameside, and each of the ten Greater Manchester councils runs its own alarm service with its own charges and timetable. Confirm the council before you ring anyone.
Want to know if your alarm survives 2027?
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Book a free call with HannahFrequently asked questions
The council publishes £4.43 a week for monitoring only and £6.44 a week for monitoring and response, with installation free. Response means someone attends rather than only phoning a contact. Ring 0161 234 5001 to discuss which applies, and check the current rate, since charges are reviewed periodically.
Not for telecare users. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority has published switchover guidance for the city region that specifically mentions fall monitors, lifelines and personal alarms, but that is advice rather than a council timetable for replacing equipment. Ask CATEC on 0161 234 5001 about your own unit.
In Manchester, some equipment can be self referred, while items such as GPS devices need a referral from a health or social care professional. The council's own route in is to call and discuss, which is quicker than the full assessment some other councils require before any equipment is provided.
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 covers the telephone rather than the alarm, so an alarm with its own battery is the safer arrangement.
Where to start: Check the back of the alarm for a phone cable, ring 0161 234 5001 if it is a council unit, and notify your communications provider that a telecare device is in use. See our digital switchover guide or pendant alarms for Manchester. 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.