~80%

UK premises with access to full-fibre (FTTP) as of 2025

31 Jan 2027

Openreach PSTN copper switch-off deadline

1 Gbps

Typical FTTP top tier with no phone line needed

£0

Phone line cost on FTTP, Virgin Media cable, 4G/5G home broadband

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Which no-phone-line broadband is right for you?

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Indicative guidance based on typical August 2026 UK pricing. Always run a postcode coverage check before ordering. None of these options charge separate line rental.

Can you get broadband without a landline in 2026?

Yes, and for most UK addresses it is now the default. The old rule that broadband needed a copper phone line applied to ADSL and FTTC connections, both of which Openreach is retiring. Four modern technologies deliver broadband without any line rental at all.

  • Full-fibre (FTTP): fibre runs all the way to your property, with no copper involved. Available to roughly 80% of UK premises;
  • Cable (DOCSIS 3.1) and Nexfibre: Virgin Media O2 uses its own coaxial and full-fibre network covering more than 16 million homes;
  • 4G / 5G home broadband: a mobile router replaces the fixed line entirely, ideal where fibre has not arrived or for short-term rentals;
  • Satellite broadband: services such as Starlink work anywhere with a clear view of the sky, with no phone line and no fibre needed.

Which broadband types need a phone line?

Only the two oldest, copper-based technologies still depend on a phone line. Every newer connection type is sold without line rental, as the comparison below shows.

Broadband type Needs a phone line? Typical UK coverage Typical speeds
ADSL (copper) Yes Near-universal Up to ~24 Mbps
Part-fibre (FTTC) Yes ~96% of premises Up to ~80 Mbps
Full fibre (FTTP) No ~80% of premises 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps+
Cable (Virgin Media) No 16M+ homes 130 Mbps to 1 Gbps
4G / 5G home broadband No Signal-dependent 100 to 500 Mbps on 5G
Satellite (Starlink) No Anywhere with sky view 100 Mbps+
Headline insight: the PSTN copper switch-off on 31 January 2027 means traditional landlines are being retired. Every UK home is moving to Digital Voice or VoIP over broadband, so a separate phone line is no longer needed to access the internet.

How much does broadband without a phone line cost?

Prices move every month, so the headline figures below are typical ranges in August 2026 rather than fixed quotes. For live deals updated weekly, see our roundup of the cheapest broadband deals in the UK.

  • FTTP entry tiers: from around £25 per month for 50-75 Mbps with providers such as Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, Cuckoo and Now Broadband;
  • FTTP gigabit tiers: typically £35-50 per month for 900 Mbps to 1 Gbps from BT, Sky, EE, Vodafone, YouFibre and CityFibre-based ISPs;
  • Virgin Media broadband-only: roughly £30-45 per month on 12 or 18-month contracts, £45-60 per month on 1-month rolling deals;
  • 5G home broadband: from about £20 per month for unlimited data with Three, EE, Vodafone or Smarty, where 5G is available.
Prices here exclude one-off setup fees, mid-contract price rises and promotional credits. Always check the contract term and the standard rate after any introductory period.

Full-fibre (FTTP) broadband, no phone line

FTTP is the dominant technology for broadband-only deals. Openreach has now passed more than 18 million premises (around 60% of the UK), and altnets including CityFibre, Community Fibre, Hyperoptic, Gigaclear and brsk add roughly another 10-20% of coverage. In total, about 80% of UK premises can order full-fibre today, with no copper phone line involved.

Most major providers now sell FTTP as a pure broadband product. Digital Voice is offered as an optional add-on rather than a requirement, which is the key change from the pre-2024 market.

  • Openreach-based ISPs: BT Full Fibre, Sky Full Fibre Gigafast, EE Full Fibre, Plusnet Full Fibre, TalkTalk Future Fibre, Vodafone Full Fibre, Now Broadband Full Fibre, Cuckoo, Zen;
  • Altnets on their own networks: Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, Gigaclear, brsk, Trooli, YouFibre;
  • CityFibre-based ISPs: Vodafone, TalkTalk, Zen and Cuckoo all resell over the CityFibre full-fibre network in supported cities.

For background on how the fibre network works, see our guides to Openreach and fibre vs cable.

Cable broadband, no phone line

Virgin Media O2 is the only UK provider with a national cable network. Its DOCSIS 3.1 coaxial footprint passes more than 16 million homes, and the joint Nexfibre rollout with InfraVia and Telefónica is adding full-fibre coverage on top. Neither network depends on an Openreach phone line, so every Virgin Media broadband package is sold without line rental by default.

Speeds run from around 130 Mbps on the entry tier through to gigabit on Volt and Nexfibre tiers. Virgin Media Talk is offered as a separate add-on if you still want a home phone over the same router.

Mobile and 5G home broadband, no fibre needed

Where fibre is not yet available, or where you need a short contract, mobile home broadband is now a genuine alternative rather than a stopgap. A 5G router plugs into the mains and connects over the operator's mobile network, with unlimited data on most consumer plans. Because there is no fixed line to provision, many of these plans are also the easiest route to no-contract broadband.

  • Three 5G Home Broadband: unlimited data, no annual contract option, gigabit-class peak speeds where 5G Ultrafast is available (see our Three broadband review);
  • EE 5G Smart Hub: built on EE's 5G Standalone network, unlimited data, often bundled with EE mobile;
  • Vodafone GigaCube: 5G router with unlimited plans, useful for renters and moves;
  • Smarty 5G home broadband: low-cost unlimited 5G on the Three network with a 30-day rolling option;
  • Three 4G Hub: the fallback for rural addresses without 5G, with unlimited 4G data.

Sky, BT and EE broadband without a phone line

Until a few years ago, Sky, BT and EE all required a phone line because their packages ran over copper FTTC. That is no longer the case. Each provider now sells FTTP as broadband-only, with Digital Voice offered separately. The legacy advice that you cannot get BT or Sky without a landline is out of date.

Sky broadband without a phone line

Sky's Full Fibre tiers (Essential, Superfast, Ultrafast Plus and Full Fibre Gigafast) sell as broadband-only on the Openreach FTTP network. Sky Talk is an optional add-on rather than a bundled requirement. If you sign up at an address still on copper FTTC, Sky will quote a regulated line rental fee, but that route is being phased out as Openreach completes the FTTP rollout. See our Sky broadband guide for current tiers.

BT broadband without a phone line

BT Full Fibre packages no longer require a landline service. Digital Voice is offered as an optional service on top of the Smart Hub router, and customers can choose broadband-only at checkout. The same applies to EE Full Fibre, which runs on the same Openreach FTTP network. See our BT broadband page for the live line-up.

Broadband-only vs broadband with a phone line

Dropping the line is the right call for most households, but a handful of edge cases still benefit from keeping a Digital Voice subscription on the same router.

Advantages

  • Cheaper monthly bill with no line rental component
  • Single broadband charge, simpler to compare and switch
  • Gigabit-class FTTP speeds on most modern packages
  • No dependency on the ageing analogue copper network
  • Ready for the 31 January 2027 PSTN switch-off with no migration step

Disadvantages

  • No fallback line for 999 calls during a power cut, unless you order a battery backup
  • A home phone still needs a Digital Voice or VoIP handset plugged into the router
  • Some rural addresses on FTTC are still sold with a bundled line until FTTP arrives
  • Older pendant alarms and burglar alarms may need upgrading to work over IP

How to switch to broadband-only

The process is the same regardless of provider, and the One Touch Switch service introduced by Ofcom means you no longer need to cancel your old contract yourself when moving between most fixed-line providers.

  1. Check FTTP, Virgin cable and 5G coverage at your address using each provider's postcode checker;
  2. Compare the broadband-only tier you actually need against your current bill, ignoring promotional cashback;
  3. If you want to keep your landline number, ask the new provider to port it across before the old line is ceased;
  4. Place the order and let the new provider trigger the One Touch Switch with the losing supplier;
  5. On the changeover date, plug the new router into the master socket or the FTTP optical network terminal and test the connection.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Full-fibre (FTTP) lines from Openreach and altnets, Virgin Media O2 cable, Nexfibre, and 4G/5G home broadband all work without a copper phone line. The only packages that still require a separate line are legacy ADSL and FTTC connections, which Openreach is retiring by 31 January 2027.

BT, Sky, EE, Plusnet, TalkTalk, Vodafone, Now Broadband, Cuckoo, Zen and Hyperoptic all sell full-fibre broadband-only deals. Virgin Media O2 has always supplied broadband over its own cable network with no phone line. Three, EE, Vodafone and Smarty offer 5G home broadband with no fixed line at all.

No, the opposite. Openreach is shutting down the analogue PSTN copper network on 31 January 2027 and migrating remaining landlines to Digital Voice over your broadband router. If you do not want a home phone, you can simply order a broadband-only package and not subscribe to Digital Voice or Sky Talk.

No. As of {{ $annee }}, BT Full Fibre, Sky Full Fibre Gigafast and EE Full Fibre packages all sell as broadband-only on FTTP. Digital Voice is offered as an optional add-on rather than a requirement. The old rule that Sky and BT broadband needed a phone line applied to copper FTTC, which is being retired.

In a strong 5G coverage area, yes. Three 5G Home Broadband, EE 5G Smart Hub and Vodafone GigaCube routinely deliver 100-500 Mbps downloads with unlimited data, comparable to entry and mid-tier FTTP. Outside 5G coverage you will fall back to 4G, which is fine for streaming and calls but less reliable for large households.

The cheapest options with no line rental are entry-tier full fibre (FTTP), which starts from around £25 a month for 50 to 75 Mbps with providers such as Cuckoo, Now Broadband, Plusnet and Hyperoptic, and 5G home broadband, which starts from about £20 a month for unlimited data with Smarty, Three or Vodafone where 5G is available. Prices change monthly, so compare the broadband-only tier you need rather than the headline figure.

Order a broadband-only FTTP package and add a Digital Voice / VoIP service from the same provider (BT Digital Voice, Sky Talk on broadband, Vodafone Pro II Phone). Your existing landline number is ported over and the handset plugs into the router. You can also port the number to an independent VoIP service such as Vonage or Andrews & Arnold.

Next steps

Now you know the technology options, the next move is to check coverage at your exact address and compare live prices. The guides below cover the wider context, from line rental and Openreach to VoIP and the cheapest current deals.