The Digital Switchover in Middlesbrough: What It Means for Your Personal Alarm
The analogue phone network is switched off on 31 January 2027. Alarms that call for help through a phone socket are the equipment most at risk. Middlesbrough Council runs telecare and a 24 hour response service called Connect, but it has not published anything about what the switchover means for the equipment in people's homes.
Key facts
- The analogue phone network (PSTN) is retired on 31 January 2027, about six months away.
- Middlesbrough Council provides telecare through Middlesbrough Independent Living Services, with a 24 hour control room and response service called Connect.
- The town sits in the TS postcode area, mainly TS1 to TS5, TS7 and TS8, with TS6 and the higher numbers reaching Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool.
- Around 2 million people in the UK use telecare, according to the government's Telecare National Action Plan.
What is changing in Middlesbrough, and when?
The copper telephone network is being retired across the UK. Openreach has confirmed it is retiring the analogue phone network by 31 January 2027, after which every landline runs over a broadband connection.
Conversions are already under way, street by street, so a household in Acklam may be switched long before one in Park End. The visible change is small: the telephone moves from the wall socket to the router. The invisible change is what matters. Anything else that shared that line, including alarm units, pull cords in older sheltered schemes and linked smoke or flood sensors, was built for a network that is going away.
Will my personal alarm still work after the switch-off?
Only if it does not rely on the analogue line. Older alarms place what amounts to a telephone call using analogue tones, and digital lines handle those tones unpredictably. Some units continue, some drop the call halfway, and some fail with no outward sign at all, so the pendant still lights and beeps while the call never lands.
An alarm connected over the mobile network is unaffected. It carries its own SIM, ignores the phone line and behaves the same before and after the change.
One national commitment is worth knowing. The Telecare National Action Plan states 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 depends on your phone company having been told there is an alarm in the house.
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 using 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 during a test call. Press the pendant and ask the control room 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 Middlesbrough Council?
Middlesbrough Council provides telecare through Middlesbrough Independent Living Services. Its own pages explain that the council has "a team of qualified trusted assessors who can assess your needs and decide on the best pieces of equipment", and that residents "may be asked to contribute towards paying for the Telecare service" depending on their financial circumstances. The way in is 01642 726009.
The part worth understanding is Connect, the council's own service, which the council describes as running "24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year" and which supports people at home, in the garden and when they go out. Connect is contacted through the same number, 01642 726009, or at controlroom@middlesbrough.gov.uk. Because Connect includes a response element rather than only passing calls on, an alarm that stops connecting takes out both halves of the arrangement at once: no call and no visit.
The honest position: as at August 2026, Middlesbrough Council has not published a page setting out what the digital switchover means for its telecare users, nor a timetable for replacing home equipment. If a council alarm is in the house, the control room is the right first call, and the question to ask is not "are you ready" but "is the unit in my home digital, and when is it being changed".
What should Middlesbrough residents do now?
Work out who supplied the alarm. Middlesbrough Council, a housing provider, or a private company. That decides who has to confirm it still works after the switch.
Then tell whoever bills you for the phone line that a telecare alarm is in use at the address. That single flag is what triggers extra care during migration, and it is free. If the address is in Thornaby, Ingleby Barwick, Eston or Guisborough, remember you are dealing with Stockton-on-Tees or Redcar and Cleveland rather than Middlesbrough, even though the postcode still starts TS.
The one thing to get right on Teesside
TS postcodes cross five separate councils. Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Darlington each run their own arrangements, so the alarm service your neighbour a mile down the road uses may be a different organisation entirely. Confirm which council covers the address before you start ringing.
Not sure whether your alarm is affected?
Describe the base unit and we will tell you plainly whether it survives the switch-off.
Telephone 01704 332840 | info@holdengrange.com
Book a free call with HannahFrequently asked questions
Connect is Middlesbrough Council's 24 hour control room and response service, operating every day of the year. Telecare is the equipment. The two work together: the sensors and pendant raise the alarm, and Connect answers it and arranges help. Both are reached on 01642 726009.
No. As at August 2026 there is no published council page explaining the switchover to telecare users and no timetable for changing home equipment. That is not unusual among English councils, but it does mean residents need to ask rather than wait to be contacted.
The council states you may be asked to contribute towards the cost, depending on your financial situation, and that equipment follows an assessment by its trusted assessors. It is therefore not a fixed price service you can simply order. Ring 01642 726009 to find out what applies in your case.
Usually yes, though it should be confirmed rather than assumed. A mobile connected alarm needs a usable signal at the property, and thick walled older housing can weaken it in some rooms. A good supplier checks coverage for the postcode and advises where the base unit should sit.
Where to start: Check the back of the alarm for a phone cable, ring 01642 726009 if it is a council unit, and tell your phone provider there is a telecare device at the address. See our digital switchover guide or pendant alarms for Middlesbrough. 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.