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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Business
Anna Tims

As UK landlines go digital, fears grow for vulnerable people whose home phone is a lifeline

Head and shoulders portrait of Margaret Boden
Margaret Boden was switched to Digital Voice. Soon after there was a power cut and she had to leave the house to phone an electrician. Photograph: Paul McErlane/The Observer

Customers risk losing lifelong telephone numbers, or being stranded without a service, as analogue landlines are switched off over the next two years, according to campaigners.

From December 2025, all households will have to use the internet to make and receive calls, as BT digitises the national network in a move, critics claim, that is happening too fast and too soon.

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