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

Analogue phone lines are retired on 31 January 2027 and every landline in Reading becomes digital. A pendant alarm plugged into the phone socket in Caversham, Whitley or Southcote may not be able to call for help afterwards. In Reading two different organisations sit behind a council alarm, which means you may need to make two phone calls rather than one.

What is changing in Reading, and when?

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

The change lands on everything else that used the line. Openreach reported roughly 2.8 million lines still on the old network in February 2026. In the Victorian terraces of east Reading and the post-war streets around Whitley Wood and Norcot, a good number of those lines still have an alarm base unit plugged in beside the telephone.

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

Only if it is digital ready or connects over the mobile network. An analogue base unit dials out 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 risk. A digital line depends on the broadband router, which 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. Follow the cables. A thin lead into a white phone socket means analogue and at risk. A lead into the broadband router means it has already been converted. A power lead alone usually means a mobile unit.
2. Work out who supplied it and who maintains it. In Reading those can be two different organisations, so note both names before you start ringing.
3. Do a test call. Press the button, say clearly that it is a test, and confirm the operator can hear you and holds the right address and keyholders.

What about alarms provided by Reading Borough Council?

Reading Borough Council's alarm offer sits under Technology Enabled Care, and the council states plainly on that page that "Reading Borough Council's Telecare (TEC) service is provided by Livity Life". To get an assessment you refer yourself using the council's assessment referral form or ring Reading Adult Social Care on 0118 937 3747. If equipment is already installed and something is wrong with it, the council gives Livity Life's own number, 01344 621843.

That split is the practical point for Reading. The council decides who qualifies, and Livity Life supplies, installs and maintains the equipment. When the question is "will this base unit still work in February 2027", the organisation holding the technical answer is Livity Life, while the organisation holding the care record is the council. It is worth ringing both and not assuming one has spoken to the other about your address.

On the switchover itself, Reading Borough Council has not published guidance for telecare users. There is nothing about the analogue to digital change on the Technology Enabled Care page and we found no separate council switchover page. That is not unusual, and it is not a reason to panic, but it does mean nobody has told Reading alarm users what is coming or when. Waiting for a council letter is not a plan.

What should Reading 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 triggers the national protections before an engineer arrives to convert the line.

Then ring 0118 937 3747 if the alarm came through the council, and Livity Life on 01344 621843 about the equipment itself. If a relative lives in Woodley or Earley, they are in Wokingham borough rather than Reading, so the arrangements there are different. A mobile connected alarm removes the landline question altogether, which suits the many Reading flats and shared houses where broadband is in somebody else'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 the council on 0118 937 3747 and Livity Life on 01344 621843 about that address. See our SOS pendant alarms in Reading page, our digital switchover guide, or read whether a personal alarm needs wifi or a landline. Openreach sets out the national timetable on its digital phone lines 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.