The UK is replacing all copper-wire phone lines with digital connections that won't function during a power outage. This is asking for trouble for people outside the "usual case" that everyone is supposed to fit into.

That includes people like me, who don't have a mobile phone.

The US has more or less done the same, so copper-wire phone lines are now quite expensive. When I moved here I couldn't afford that, so I had to accept a phone connection that depends on local AC power. I obtained a UPS, a gift from a friend who didn't need it any more. But it can only keep the phone connection running for a few hours.