BT to hold Burnley events to raise awareness of digital home phone service

The company has announced it will be rolling out its new digital home phone service ‘Digital Voice’ in the North West this autumn.

The region will be visited by BT as part of an awareness-raising drive around the industry-wide shift from analogue to digital landlines, with over 25 events scheduled during October. This includes BT’s advisors and its demonstration vehicle visiting BGC, Deer Park Road, Burnley, BB10 4SD on October 22nd and 23rd.

The move comes as part of an industry-wide shift from analogue to digital landlines, where calls are made over a broadband line, and will see BT and nearly all other landline operators in the UK, including Virgin Media O2, supporting their customers in making the switch by the end of 2025.

The landline isn’t going away but is being upgraded to replace the decades old analogue technology that is increasingly unreliable and is no longer supported by suppliers and manufacturers.

Customers risk facing increased service outages if this urgent infrastructure upgrade isn’t carried out now by BT and other operators. This new future-proof, digital landline technology is also a major step towards preparing the country for a Full Fibre future, in support of the UK Government’s gigabit connectivity ambitions.

Digital Voice will have no impact on how BT customers use their home phone and will not cost any more than customers pay today.

Initially, BT won’t be proactively switching anyone who falls under the below criteria, where it has this information available:

Customers with a healthcare pendant

Customers who only use landlines

Customers with no mobile signal

Customers who have disclosed any additional needs.

Customers who fall into any of these categories should contact BT to ensure their data is up to date.

Customers over the age of 70 are not being proactively switched to Digital Voice. However, since July 2023, BT has been trialling switching customers between 70-74 who live in urban areas and are ready to make the switch, i.e. they have the latest broadband hub and are not frequent landline users. These trials have gone well to date, with 98% of customers choosing to make the switch, and pending further consultation with the Digital Voice Advisory Group, BT will look to extend this trial nationally.

Lucy Baker MBE, All-IP Director, BT Consumer, said: “We understand that any change can be unsettling, and we’re here to support our customers every step of the way. First-hand experience shows that once people have the facts and have spoken to one of our advisors, they feel confident to make the switch.

“If we’ve not been in touch or visited your area yet, don’t worry. We’ll be in touch when it’s time to switch. For anyone who has any issues, questions or concerns, then I’d encourage them to get in touch and let us know.”

Throughout the programme, BT will also be contacting some broadband customers in England, inviting them to switch their landline to Digital Voice in advance of local and regional campaigning in their area.