This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition STOP the forced PSTN switch off by BT for whole of the UK
By December of 2025 BT plan to switch of the PSTN network for the whole UK without giving anyone a choice to continue on the old service or indeed even to check if elderly and vulnerable people are adversely affected by having no standard telephone line. Few people are even aware it is happening.
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Government should stop BT from forcing everyone on to a service which is new & not proven to work nationwide. PSTN should remain for those that chose to keep it & all those who are elderly & vulnerable. The replacement to PSTN VOIP does not work when there is a power cut & this is dangerous. It could be days before power is connected depending on situation, mobiles don't work everywhere & 1hr back ups are not helpful. Why destroy PSTN network when it remains working & useful during power cuts.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s about something that the UK Government or Parliament is not directly responsible for.
Petitions must call for a specific action that the UK Government or House of Commons is responsible for.
The Government sets minimum service standards for access to telecommunications, but decisions about the technology used to meet these standards (including replacing the Publicly Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) to internet-based phone services are a matter for individual telecommunication providers, not the Government or House of Commons.
As a result it is not possible for the Government or House of Commons to take the action you have requested.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.