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Written question asked by Lord Bridges of Headley (Conservative) on Thursday, 23 July 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 6 August 2026. It was answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra (Labour) on Thursday, 6 August 2026 on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Voice over Internet Protocol

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect on the UK's national resilience of replacing the centrally powered Public Switched Telephone Network with Digital Voice services which depend upon electricity and broadband equipment within individual premises; and whether they have undertaken any comparative assessment of the resilience of the two systems in the event of a prolonged nationwide power outage arising from a hostile cyber attack or other major civil emergency.

Answer

The Government is committed to ensuring that any risks from the industry-led migration of the analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to digital Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) are mitigated for everyone across the UK. VoIP technology is more resilient, more secure, enables better quality phone calls, and can be used to block scam calls. Over 92% of PSTN landlines have already been migrated.

Communications providers are under legal obligations to ensure uninterrupted access to emergency services, including 999 and 112, and to take appropriate and proportionate steps to identify risks to network resilience and mitigate service disruption.

In November 2024, the Government secured additional safeguards from the telecoms industry. These include the provision of free battery back-ups for vulnerable and landline dependent customers to ensure access to emergency services beyond one hour in a power outage. Many providers have gone further, providing 4-7 hours.

Communications providers are also subject to robust cyber security and resilience requirements under the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021, including obligations to identify, manage and mitigate cyber risks that could affect network availability and services.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL2642
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Emergencies Power failures Voice over internet protocol
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk