Broadband without a landline: what actually changes

For years, broadband without landline rental was the thing people asked for and couldn't have. The phone line came bundled whether you used it or not, and the socket sat in the hall gathering dust. That is reversing. The copper telephone network those lines run on is being retired, and a home phone is turning into an optional extra bolted onto your broadband rather than the thing your broadband arrives on.

Do you still need a phone line for broadband?

It depends entirely on which technology reaches your house, and that is the part most advice skips. Full fibre, the kind almost every altnet builds, runs a fibre optic line into your home and uses no copper telephone wiring at all. No line to rent, because there is no line. Older packages sold as fibre are a different animal: FTTC runs fibre to a street cabinet and copper for the last stretch, so a phone line is physically doing the work even when no phone service is sold alongside it.

Our guide to the difference between full fibre, FTTC and cable is worth five minutes if you are not sure which one you have. It is the single fact that decides whether a phone line is optional for you today or simply unavoidable until your street is upgraded.

Is broadband without landline cheaper?

Not automatically, and expecting it to be is how people end up disappointed. The saving people remember came from an era when line rental sat as a separate charge on the bill, so removing it was visible. Providers now overwhelmingly quote one monthly price with any line included. There is rarely a rental line item left to strip out.

Where dropping the phone does save money is on the extras. A digital phone service, call packages and inclusive minutes are usually sold as add-ons, and declining all of them takes real money off a bill every month. The prices on the networks we track sit in the comparison table, which is a better guide than anything written in prose, because those figures change and a sentence in an article does not.

The copper network is closing anyway

This is the part that turns a preference into a deadline. The Public Switched Telephone Network, the analogue system every traditional landline runs on, is being retired, and Ofcom says landline calls will instead be delivered over VoIP, which uses a broadband connection. The completion date is 31 January 2027, having moved back from an original target of December 2025 to give providers, telecare suppliers and households longer to migrate safely.

ADSL and FTTC broadband depend on that same copper, so this is not only a phone story. Openreach has been running a stop-sell on copper products area by area as full fibre becomes available, which is why some people find they can't renew the package they have had for a decade. So the question is shifting from whether you want broadband without a phone line to when you'll be handed one.

What happens to your phone number?

You can keep it, but only if you raise it before the switch rather than after. A number can normally be ported onto a digital phone service with the new provider, and the handset then plugs into the router instead of the socket on the wall. Say nothing at order stage and let the old service lapse, and the number can go with it.

This matters more than it sounds. A number a household has had for thirty years is often the reason somebody keeps a phone service they otherwise have no use for, and it's the one part of the arrangement that can't be bought back later. Our guide on how switching actually works covers when to mention it.

The catch: a digital phone stops working in a power cut

An old analogue phone drew its power down the phone line itself, which is why it kept working when the lights went out. A digital phone plugs into the router, and the router runs off the mains. A power cut takes the phone with it.

Ofcom's position is that providers have to deal with this rather than leave it to the customer. If you depend on your landline, because you have no mobile, cannot use one, or get no mobile signal indoors, your provider must make sure you can still reach the emergency services during a power cut. In practice that means a battery back-up unit for the router or a basic mobile phone, and Ofcom's guidance has been that at least one solution should cover a minimum of one hour and be offered free of charge to customers who are at risk. Providers are also expected to identify those customers rather than wait to be asked.

Worth knowing rather than worth panicking about. But it is a real difference from the service being replaced, and anyone who has been told the switch changes nothing has been told something untrue.

Who should think twice before dropping the line

• Anyone with telecare or a personal alarm. Pendant alarms, fall detectors and warden call systems were built for the analogue network, and migrating them is a job to do deliberately with the supplier, not a side effect of changing broadband.
• Households with no usable mobile signal indoors. If the mobile has to be held out of a window, the landline is not a nostalgia item, it is the working phone.
• Anything else wired to the phone socket. Alarm systems, lift lines and some care equipment quietly assume a copper line is there.
• People who simply prefer a handset. Nothing wrong with it. A digital phone service keeps it working, just from a different socket.

For most households, though, the phone line has been a line item rather than a service for years, and full fibre removes it entirely. Start with what is actually available at your address, because the technology on your street decides this rather than the provider you pick. If a full fibre network reaches you, the question answers itself.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get broadband with no phone line at all?

On full fibre, yes. The fibre runs into your home on its own and there is no copper phone line involved, so there is nothing to rent and nothing to plug a handset into unless you want one. On older FTTC packages a copper line still carries the signal, even when no phone service is sold with it.

Will I lose my phone number if I drop the landline?

Not if you say so at the point of ordering. Numbers can usually be ported to a digital phone service on the new provider. If you order without mentioning it and let the old service lapse, the number can be lost, and getting it back afterwards is difficult.

Does a digital phone work in a power cut?

No. It plugs into the router, and the router needs mains power. Ofcom expects your provider to make sure you can still reach the emergency services if you depend on your landline, usually with a battery back-up unit or a basic mobile.

What happens if I do nothing before the copper switch-off?

Your provider is responsible for contacting you and moving you across, and Openreach has said there will be no sudden cut-off for people who have not migrated by the deadline. You do not need to act until your provider tells you your service is changing.

Is a digital phone service worth paying for?

Only if somebody actually uses it. Many households keep it for a number they have had for decades, or for a relative who will not call a mobile. If neither applies, a phone service on top of broadband is a monthly charge for a socket nobody plugs anything into.