Most people’s home broadband and phone services are delivered using the same connections. Line rental is not actually a charge for your home phone, it’s actually the cost of maintaining the wire (or ‘line’) that brings your broadband, landline and even some TV services into your home.
For many broadband providers, you will need a physical landline connection in order to access broadband services. The fee covers the maintenance and use of the line itself, ensuring that it remains in working order.
Even if you don’t use the landline for phone calls, the line rental is often bundled into the broadband package, as it’s the infrastructure needed for a stable internet connection. This is known as 'Fibre to the Cabinet' (FTTC) and will be subject to line rental. Most providers include this within their package tariff but it’s important to check the small print to make sure.
This depends on where you live and how the internet is delivered to your home. You will need to pay for a landline still if your broadband is either fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) or ADSL, as these both use the old copper phone line network to be delivered into your household.
Standard broadband – or ADSL – provides an internet connection through the same line as your home phone. That’s the fixed-line network of copper telephone cables that come from your nearest exchange, into your street’s cabinet, and then across into your home.
You’ll get a maximum download speed of 24Mbps which will probably be fine if you’re only a light internet user. Speeds can vary too. The distance from your home to your local telephone exchange and even the weather can play a factor in how your connection will operate. You’ll have to pay for the phone line even if you don’t use it with a phone as the network is running on it.
A lot of connections that are referred to as ‘fibre broadband’ should more accurately be thought of as ‘partial fibre’. This offers slower speeds than full fibre.
Like your standard broadband, it still connects from the street cabinets, hence the name ‘fibre-to-the-cabinet’ (FTTC). But, it’s faster, because instead of running through the older, copper cables from the broadband exchange, the fibre network uses its own new fibre-optic cables.
However, the network from street cabinet to your property, is still a copper phone line, which means the absolute maximum speed that can be reached is 80Mbps. If you see any package advertising speeds between 30Mbps and 80Mbps, it’s likely that this will be through a partial fibre connection and that you will be charged line rental.
Avoid this additional cost, with:
Full fibre gives you the fastest broadband speed possible. This technology relies entirely on fibre optic cables that run from the broadband exchange to your property, which is also why they can be known as ‘fibre to the premises’ (FTTP). There’s no need for a phone line or anything else in between. Using this technique it is possible to get speeds exceeding 1,000Mbps (1Gbps).
This equipment is future-proofing businesses and homes because, once installed, there won’t be the need to invest in new broadband cables for decades.
These days all UK broadband providers offer full fibre, it will just depend on whether or not your home has access to this yet.
Find out whether your postcode can access full fibre.
Mobile broadband (4G or 5G) is another alternative that doesn’t require a phone line. This is typically offered as a router or USB device that connects to the mobile network to provide internet access. Mobile broadband is a good option for people in areas without reliable landline broadband, but keep in mind that data limits and speeds may vary.
Mobile broadband is available across most of the UK, but coverage depends on your location and the mobile network provider you use. While cities and towns generally have strong 4G and 5G coverage, rural and remote areas may experience slower speeds or weaker signals, particularly indoors or in areas with natural obstructions like hills and forests.
If you still need a landline service but want to avoid paying traditional line rental, VoIP services can be an option.
Landlines have been delivered through an analogue network for decades, but this is being replaced with newer digital technology.
The new 'Voice over Internet Protocol' (VoIP) system – also referred to as a digital landline or 'Digital Voice' – is the name of BT's new home phone service. BT is one of many network providers making this change. VoIP allows you to make phone calls over the internet instead of through a physical phone line, meaning you may not need a traditional landline service. Some broadband packages now include VoIP as part of the deal.
Once you've moved to the new digital system, your landline will mainly work as it always has, although there will be some differences. For example, it won't work if there's a power cut so you'll need an alternative solution such as a mobile phone or battery backup unit for emergency calls (but we have more information about this below).
