The Digital Switchover in Preston: What It Means for Your Personal Alarm

Analogue phone lines are switched off on 31 January 2027 and every landline in Preston becomes digital. A pendant alarm plugged into the phone socket in Ribbleton, Ingol or Deepdale may not be able to call for help afterwards. Preston households are better served than most, because the county council has written proper switchover instructions down.

What is changing in Preston, and when?

Openreach is retiring the analogue telephone network by 31 January 2027. A home phone in Preston will then run over the broadband connection, with the handset plugged into the router rather than the socket on the wall. The number does not change, and an ordinary call sounds the same as it always did.

The trouble is anything else that used that line. Openreach reported roughly 2.8 million lines still on the old network in February 2026, and in the terraced streets off New Hall Lane and the bungalows around Sharoe Green a good share still have an alarm plugged in.

Will my personal alarm still work after the switch-off?

Only if it is digital ready or works over the mobile network. An analogue base unit signals using audio tones down a copper line, and digital lines do not carry those tones reliably. The Telecare National Action Plan from DHSC and DSIT commits that no telecare user will be migrated to a digital landline without the communications provider, the customer or the telecare provider confirming that a compatible and functioning telecare solution is in place.

Power cuts are the second problem. A digital line depends on 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 providers should offer battery backup free of charge to customers who depend on their landline to call the emergency services. That backup comes from the phone company and protects a 999 call, not the alarm.

How do I check whether my alarm uses the phone line?

1. Trace the leads. A thin cable into a white phone socket means analogue and at risk. A cable into the broadband router means it has already been changed. A power lead alone usually means a mobile unit.
2. Identify the monitoring service. A Lancashire County Council alarm is monitored by Progress Lifeline. Anything else will carry a company name on a label or on the bank statement.
3. Run a test call. Press the button, say clearly that it is a test, then check the operator can hear you and holds the correct address and keyholders.

What about alarms provided by Lancashire County Council?

Preston is a two-tier area, and this is the part people get wrong. Preston City Council does not run a careline or community alarm service. Telecare sits with Lancashire County Council, under the name Technology Enabled Care, described by the council as personal alarms and sensors for your home that are linked to a 24 hour response centre. It covers social care alarms, smoke, flood, temperature and door sensors, movement monitors, GPS devices and specialist equipment for people who are deaf or visually impaired.

You apply through the county council rather than direct, using its online form or by ringing 0300 123 6720. The council says an advisor from Progress Lifeline will then be in touch within six working days to arrange an assessment visit and the installation. Progress Lifeline itself can be reached on 03333 204 999.

On the switchover, Lancashire has done better than most councils in this part of England. The same page carries a section of practical guidance for existing users, saying plainly that TEC equipment may need to be replaced with new digital equipment, walking through how to coordinate with the phone provider and with Progress Lifeline, and noting that free battery backup units may be available. If you want a single starting page for a Preston household, that is it.

What should Preston residents do now?

Ring the landline provider and tell them somebody in the household relies on a personal alarm. That single fact on the account is what triggers the national protections before an engineer arrives to convert the line.

Then ring 0300 123 6720 if the alarm came through the county council, or Progress Lifeline on 03333 204 999, and ask about that specific address rather than the programme in general. If the alarm was bought privately, the seller is the only organisation that can confirm whether the model works on a digital line. A mobile connected alarm avoids the question entirely, which suits the many Preston terraces and flats where broadband is not in the resident's name. Any replacement should run on 4G, because 3G mobile networks are now switched off.

Frequently asked questions

Where to start: tell your phone company an alarm is in use, then ring Lancashire County Council on 0300 123 6720 or Progress Lifeline on 03333 204 999 about that address. See our SOS pendant alarms in Preston page, our digital switchover guide, or read what happens if a telecare alarm stops working. Ofcom explains your rights on its digital landline migration page. 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.