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

On 31 January 2027 the analogue phone network is switched off, and every landline in Southport becomes digital. A pendant alarm plugged into the phone socket may quietly lose its ability to call for help. Southport is our own town. Our alarm receiving centre is here, staffed by people who live locally.

What is changing in Southport, and when?

Openreach is retiring the analogue telephone network by 31 January 2027, and from then the phone in a Southport house works over the broadband line rather than the copper pair that has run into it for decades. The handset plugs into the router instead of the wall socket, and the number stays the same.

Openreach has said there will be no cliff edge on 1 February 2027, with remaining lines moving to alternative arrangements rather than being cut off overnight. That is a comfort for the phone. It does not answer the question in a house on Lord Street or in Churchtown: does the alarm still reach a person when the button is pressed.

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

It depends how the alarm connects, and analogue units are the ones at risk. An older alarm dials out using audio tones down a copper line, and a digital line does not always carry them cleanly. It usually fails silently: the box on the sideboard still shows a light, and nobody finds out until the day it is needed.

There is a national protection. The Telecare National Action Plan 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. It only works if the phone company knows an alarm is in the house.

Power is the second issue. Ofcom requires providers to give at least one hour of access to emergency organisations during a power cut, and to offer battery backup free of charge to anyone who depends on the landline to call 999. That protects emergency calls, not telecare equipment.

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

1. Look behind the base unit. A thin cable into a white phone socket means an analogue alarm, and that is the one to act on. A cable into the broadband router means it has already been converted. Only a power lead usually means a mobile unit.
2. Find out who answers it. There is usually a sticker on the base with a name and number. In Southport that is often Sefton Careline, sometimes a housing provider, sometimes a company a son or daughter arranged years ago.
3. Make a test call. Press the button, say clearly that it is a test, and check the operator can hear you and holds the right address and keyholders. Repeat after any change to the phone or broadband.

What about alarms provided by Sefton Council?

Sefton Council runs Sefton Careline, described on its own website as a personal alarm and telecare service for older and vulnerable residents. A Trusted Assessor will visit a home and recommend what suits the household, and an application pack can be downloaded. The number is 0151 319 9262, open 8am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8am to 4pm on Friday, and the email address is lifeline.service@sefton.gov.uk. Sefton also runs its own alarm receiving centre, SeftonARC, which handles Careline calls alongside town centre CCTV and the council's out of hours calls.

Sefton Council has not published a public timetable explaining how or when it will move Careline equipment from analogue to digital. There is no switchover page on sefton.gov.uk that we can find. That is not a criticism, but it does mean the only way to find out where a Southport household stands is to ring the Careline team and ask: is the unit in my house digital ready, and if not, when will it be changed.

What should Southport residents do now?

Start with the phone company. Tell them a personal alarm is used in the house and ask to be recorded as someone who depends on the line. That one call activates the national protections and costs nothing.

Then deal with the alarm. If Sefton Careline supplied it, contact the Careline team. If it came from anywhere else, treat it as needing replacement until somebody confirms otherwise in writing. A mobile connected alarm removes the landline question completely, which matters as much in the older terraces around High Park and Blowick as in the flats along the promenade. Any replacement should run on 4G, since 3G is already switched off.

Frequently asked questions

Where to start: ring Sefton Careline or your alarm provider, tell your phone company an alarm is in use, then plan a digital ready replacement. Read our Southport and Sefton telecare guide, see SOS pendant alarms in Southport, or our digital switchover guide. Openreach sets out the 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.