Telecommunications, including the security and resilience of networks, is reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government is working closely with the UK Government, Ofcom and the telecoms industry to ensure that risks that are identified by our rural and island communities are resolved ahead of the introduction of the new digital services.
Although the telecoms industry has made the decision to replace the traditional land-line telephone service with a digital service by the start of 2027, there will be no change to the statutory responsibilities that apply to telecommunications providers. The roll-out of the emergency services mobile communications programme and the introduction of the emergency services network will not be impacted by the introduction of new digital services such as BT’s Digital Voice, as those digital services do not rely on the mobile network.