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

The analogue phone network is retired on 31 January 2027 and every landline across the Wigan borough becomes digital. Community alarms that dial out through the phone socket can stop reaching help. Wigan Council has published very little about its own plans, but it has published one warning that every alarm user here should read.

What is changing in Wigan, and when?

Openreach is retiring the analogue telephone network by 31 January 2027. From then a Wigan landline runs over the broadband connection: the phone plugs into the router rather than the socket on the wall, and the number stays the same. Openreach has said there will be no cliff edge on 1 February 2027.

Wigan is one of the ten Greater Manchester boroughs, and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has published switchover advice for the whole city region. It flags the group that matters here: people using a telecare device connected to a phone line, such as a fall monitor, lifeline or personal alarm. That is regional guidance, not a Wigan timetable.

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

An analogue alarm might not. These units call the monitoring centre by sending audio tones down a copper pair, and digital lines do not always carry them cleanly. The failure is silent. The base unit keeps its light on and nobody finds out until the day the button is pressed in a real emergency.

Nationally, 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. That protection depends on the phone company knowing an alarm is in the house, and nobody will tell them for you.

Power is a separate problem. GMCA points out that digital landlines cannot carry a power connection, so they will not work in a power cut. Ofcom requires providers to give at least one hour of access to emergency organisations during an outage and to offer free battery backup to people who depend on the landline for 999. That covers emergency calls rather than telecare devices.

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

1. Follow the wire. Into a white phone socket means an analogue unit and action needed. Into the broadband router means it has already been converted. Only a power lead usually means a mobile unit.
2. Find the name on the box. There is normally a sticker with a service name and number. In Wigan it may be the council, a housing provider or a private company, and knowing which one decides who you ring.
3. Do a test call. Press the button, say 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 Wigan Council?

This is where we have to be straight with you. Wigan Council does not publish a brand name for its community alarm service in the way that neighbouring boroughs do. Its assistive technology page describes equipment rather than a named product, and the route in is to request an assessment for care and support. The Community Adult Front Door Team can be reached on 01942 828777. We are not going to invent a service name the council itself does not use.

Wigan Council has also not published a page setting out when it will move community alarm equipment from analogue to digital. What it has published is a fraud warning: scammers are ringing residents claiming the community alarm will no longer work and needs changing because of a digital upgrade, then asking for payment. The council states you will never be contacted by Wigan Council and asked to pay for your assistive technology or community alarm to be upgraded.

What should Wigan residents do now?

Ring your phone provider, tell them a personal alarm is used in the house and ask to be recorded as dependent on the line. Then find out who actually monitors the alarm, because in Wigan that is not obvious from the council's website and the answer changes what you do next.

If the council or a housing provider arranged it, ring 01942 828777 or your housing office and ask whether your unit is digital ready. If it was bought privately, treat it as needing replacement until the supplier confirms otherwise. A mobile connected alarm removes the landline question altogether, which helps in the older terraces around Ince and Platt Bridge as much as out at Standish. Choose 4G, since 3G is already switched off.

Frequently asked questions

Where to start: tell your phone company an alarm is in use, work out who monitors it, then ring 01942 828777 if it came from the council. See SOS pendant alarms in Wigan, our digital switchover guide, or read about the 2027 landline switch-off. Regional advice is on the GMCA switchover 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.