This topic

Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

fisherking — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 12:54:07 GMT

I got an email and letter telling me Openreach will be coming in early March to change my line to digital voice and FTTP.

I’ve been on Home Essentials fibre 2 for 3 years, capped at 55/10 for some reason. Will the speed exactly the same on FTTP or will it be more? Also if I decide to move to another ISP will I need to ring BT or just put in an order with another ISP?
Thanks.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

licquorice — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 13:06:06 GMT

The speed will remain the same.

Just place an order with new supplier, do not contact BT.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

Kimberlin — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 13:33:50 GMT

@fisherking

As advised, don’t contact BT if you initiate a switch. You can even use One Touch Switching online, but if you have a landline, you’ll need to factor in your choice of ISP.

Be aware, if you initiate a switch, be prepared to be bombarded with calls from BT Retentions. Your choice as to whether or not you entertain talking to them, they may or may not offer you a deal worth staying for.

Up to you, but I’d also think carefully about the timing of any switch. The annual price increase is implemented at the end of March, so even if you switched now, you’ll still get the £4 a month hike.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

WSH — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 13:40:05 GMT

You don’t give your reasons for asking or what your concerns are, so a bit more background, just so you‘re aware.

If you move to another supplier, you will still end up having to take their equivalent of Digital Voice as the old analogue PSTN phone system will be switched off from January. (And not all providers are offering a phone service).

Digital Voice, (or its equivalent), requires an internet connection, but it does not necessarily have to be Full Fibre. It will work quite happily over the old copper wires, it’s just that Openreach are keen to do the move to Full Fibre at the same time as the move to Digital Voice. (This gets rather complicated, as it may be that your exchange will now no longer allow new copper services etc. and so they will insist on the move to Full Fibre but, if possible, Digital Voice will work over copper).

Running the phone over the internet effectively adds nothing to the speed you require, so it won’t affect your existing speed.

While it might be quite a few years down the road, you will eventually have to move to Full Fibre, as the old copper wires are eventually destined to be retired all together.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

Kimberlin — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 14:14:46 GMT

@fisherking

I don’t know what your circumstances are relating to your actual landline use, but if you’re not already aware and you have a smartphone, you don’t necessarily even need a landline anyway. Many of us don’t bother because the smartphone when enabled with WiFi calling, you can use it even without a phone signal as the router handles the call via Voip. It all of course depends on your circumstances, some folks don’t have or can’t stand smartphones or just find them completely impractical to use.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

fisherking — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 14:31:06 GMT

I’m not too too bothered about switching to digital voice but I would prefer more download speed. Although 48 Mbps is fine most of the time, downloading a large file like a game game can take about 4 hours and I wonder how long 48 Mbps will be enough for streaming VR video on my VR headset.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

fisherking — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 14:31:58 GMT

I prefer to keep the landline just incase.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

Kimberlin — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 14:49:44 GMT

@fisherking

Speeds, yes, I get it. Even downloading large iOS updates, 11gb or more, often takes less than 5 minutes with my 500mbps FTTP.

The landline, yes, I actually do get it that some folks just can’t or won’t do without one, even if it means they actually never use it and I suspect many fall into that category. It’s probably a demographic thing too. For us, the decision was easy, binned it, never looked back and I’d never have one again.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

chrisjp — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 15:02:12 GMT

"I’m not too too bothered about switching to digital voice but I would prefer more download speed."

Although it's likely that, if you do nothing except accept the migration to FTTP and DV, you'll stay at the same broadband speed that you currently get, full fibre is of course capable of much higher speeds and you should be able to negotiate with BT to get a higher speed - at an increased price of course.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

WSH — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 15:57:22 GMT

I think Essentials Fibre 2 is 67Mb/s and, unlike copper, distance from the cabinet doesn’t matter with Full Fibre, so you should get the full 67. (In fact, Full Fibre doesn’t use the cabinet).

At 55Mb/s, whether that’s going to make any practical difference to your performance is another matter, of course.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

gg30340 — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 16:11:00 GMT

Just to confirm. Is it the Social Tariff you are on?

If it is as far as I know you will not be able to get faster speeds. The social tariff only offers 2 packages and you are on the fastest one which won't change when you are moved to FTTP.

You can of course get a faster package but not on Social Tariff prices.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

WSH — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 16:23:25 GMT

The latest tariff suggests otherwise.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

gg30340 — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 19:45:57 GMT

@WSH

Your post shows:-

1) Call land line plan only, which is not what the OP wants.

2)Home essential unlimited broadband which is a fibre only 16Mbps package

3) Home Essentials unlimited fibre which is a 36mbps package with land line.

4) Home Essentials Fibre Essentials Plan 36Mbps package with no landline.

5) Home Essentials Fibre 2 Plan 67Mbps package with no landline which it would appear the OP is presently on.

Other than the 16Mbps package there are only two speeds for the remaining packages which is either 36Mbps or 67Mbps so please explain how you arrived at "the latest tariff suggests otherwise" if you are as I was referring to available speed speeds?

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

WSH — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 20:07:54 GMT

"5) Home Essentials Fibre 2 Plan 67Mbps package with no landline which it would appear the OP is presently on."

Exactly!

So, the implication is that it is not limited to 55Mb/s and this would only be due to the shortcoming of FTTC. FTTP would give access to the full 67Mb/s.

I may be misunderstanding this, but I assume a landline would not be required for DV and so he would continue with this package. Or will they insist on an entirely different package, just so they can add DV??

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

gg30340 — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 20:37:34 GMT

I did not mention the speed, I only mentioned that he was on the fastest package and that would not change when he was moved to FTTP and he would not get any faster speed than what that package would deliver, which while I never said what that speed was I would have expected that any one reading would have assumed that it would be the top speed for that package.

The OP is already on the fastest package and has a landline phone and assuming he want to continue with that, which he has indicated he does, his package would stay as it is. Only the delivery will be FTTP and his landline phone will be changed to be Digital Voice via the FTTP fibre.

I suspect that as per usual with BT webpages, regarding the Tariff page is out of date and does not reflect the correct Home Essentials packages. If you search for BT Home Essentials Packages the BT ones are not available however this 3rd party site show the BT Home Essentials 67Mbps can have a landline phone with Pay as you go for £2 a month more or unlimited calls for £10 a month more.

BT Home Essentials Review | Social tariff

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

iniltous — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 20:53:25 GMT

67Mb is the average speed BT is required to show for F2 , not because that’s the limit, but because if you average all of its F2 customers, that’s the speed the average customer would get , someone close to a FTTC ‘cabinet’ , like myself will get 80Mb from F2 (not 67Mb), some much further away 57Mb , on average it ‘delivers’ 67Mb , a pointless average in my opinion, what does it matter to any individual…that’s why a bespoke accurate speed estimate is provided when an order made .

There is no rate adaption due to line length with FTTP , every F2 customer on FTTP gets 80Mb , every F1 will get 55Mb , every Fibre Essential will get 40Mb .

If the OP is on Home Essentials 2 (67Mb) but only gets 55Mb , then the rate adaption ( speed reduction ) for their line length is either coincidentally 55Mb , or they were set up incorrectly on F1 , which isn’t even social tariff profile, an incorrect setup seems more likely given the upload is 10Mb , which is the upload on Fibre Essential and F1 , F2 upload is 20 Mb where line length allows.

The lower social tariff profile isn’t 55Mb (sold to ordinary customers as F1 ) but 40Mb which is sold to ordinary customers as Fibre Essential, it has always seemed daft to me that BT would call all the variations on the social tariff Home Essentials, and the single base profile for regular consumers as Fibre Essential .

FTTC has 3 profiles, 40Mb , 55Mb and 80Mb ,the lower and upper are the social tariff ones , but all FTTC is advertised much below what a customer on a short line would get , all part of the outlawing of the ‘upto’ adverts from yesteryear.

F2 is upto 80Mb , F1 is upto 55Mb , and Fibre Essential is upto 40 Mb if the old way of advertising speed was allowed.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

WSH — Sun, 22 Feb 2026 21:47:36 GMT

@iniltous Ah, right, I see your point now. That makes more sense.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

fisherking — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 20:57:36 GMT

I do use the landline sometimes and I was getting free calls although I don’t think that’s still the case.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

fisherking — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 21:03:35 GMT

Yes fibre essentials is 67 Mbps but they capped mine from the beginning to 55 Mbps for some reason even though my router stats for over 2 years stating the max attainable speed to be over 80 Mbps.

Re: Upgrade to digital voice and FTTP

fisherking — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 21:06:03 GMT

It is yes but they capped it to 55 Mbps.