This topic

BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

bomb20 — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 20:12:45 GMT

A somewhat long story...

I received a scare letter from BT saying TAKE ACTION TODAY And Keep your service.

I called them saying I just wanted to keep my home phone and they would not budge from "copper is all going away, you have to take and pay for a broadband package to keep your phone service".

Note that I expected one of two things
1. A 'free' broadband package at whatever level support VIOP (BT DV)
2. Some variant of a PDPL service

So I give up saying I will do some research, they tell me I have until the end of the year.

Anyway, then I discover one of my relatives on the same exchange as myself has very recently been migraded to DV, keeping the existing copper line, only issue being they now have to dial full area codes.

So I call again.

Conversation starts the same with me getting annoyed after hearing the same story. Then I drop the fact that I know it is possilble to keep a copper phone line on my exchange and if they don't budge I want to log a complaint and get a letter explaining why. Then it all changes. Apparently there is a Home Phone Standard product that could be an option - for a limited number of people.

And this evening I discover this...
https://www.bt.com/help/landline/moving-to-dv/dv-landline-only

So that looks like it might be an optoin but my situatino is complicated. I have a separate business broadband connection to the property (no phone lines) and it seems if that is on the same 'connection' to the exchange then chaging my home phone setup will terminate that connection. But BT can't tell me if that is the case or not.

Does this make sense to anyone?

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

bomb20 — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 20:27:47 GMT

In other posts I read about SMPF which sounds like it is what the BT agent was concerened about. I did have that in the past: a BT retail phone line and a separately provided ADSL then VDSL product on the same line.

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

garybs29 — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 21:01:51 GMT

Do you have more than 1 line to the property? If not then you'll have to move to one supplier for both if only 1 line

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

imjolly — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 21:12:30 GMT

If your business broadband and telephone use the same copper line you cannot keep both even with the temporary solution for phone as that requires making change to line which will terminate your business broadband

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

bomb20 — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 21:12:45 GMT

To clarify...

Domestic phone line is - a copper phone line
Business broadband is fibre, moved from VDSL in 2025.

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

garybs29 — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 21:29:35 GMT

But you've not answered the important bit, same line or not?

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

bomb20 — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 22:13:36 GMT

I'm not understanding...

To me Fibre == FTTP if that helps.

The copper and Fibre are completely different connections.

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

iniltous — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 07:28:37 GMT

To clarify further , is your business ‘fibre’ completely separate and is a fibre Ethernet leased line using its own fibre cable from outside , and has nothing to do with native GEA FTTP or copper pairs , or does it share the same copper pair as your current telephone service or was a regular FTTP connection so you have an ONT, the fact it’s supplied on a business tariff is unimportant as far as technology is concerned, do you have something like this ,
https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/openreach-equipment-in-my-home, but rather than take telephone with that you took the very expensive option to keep a separate copper telephone line as well , ?

If your broadband is shared metallic path facility (SMPF) or FTTP , ( so isn’t a fibre leased line ) , then you do need to make a choice , and your relative’s situation is not remotely the same , anyone with a standard copper pair telephone line as their only service ( not SMPF ) will be moved to PDPL , seemingly called home phone standard by BT , this is an action taken in the exchange, relatively benign to the user (no broadband needed , no local power concerns etc ) simply the need to start to dial the full nation number on local calls ) , the notification you got suggests this isn’t you as that simply gives a date to expect a short break in service while the migration is made from PSTN to PDPL in the exchange building , many areas have had to use full nation numbers for years so even that may not be a change but a continuation of the existing situation,

anyone in an Openreach FTTP area wanting BT telephony as their only service into the address , uses the Openreach FTTP network with a ‘free’ BT broadband service to host it , they don’t get a second FTTP service if they already have a OR FTTP service from someone else , after all they can hardly claim to be unconnected, and they can add telephone from the same supplier or a VoIP supplier to that broadband if telephony is needed , to argue anything else is simply trying to game the system .

If you are SMPF , you either drop broadband , or drop telephone but you can’t remain with two separate suppliers on a single copper line , a further complicated could be if when you took your SMPF broadband you took it on a residential telephone line .

If you already have FTTP , albeit with a business, then OR/BT may be under no obligation to keep you connected with a second voice only service especially as that is a legacy PSTN product, you can elect to take telephone from your FTTP supplier or change supplier to one that does offer voice with FTTP or even use a third party VoIP supplier .

You calling regular customer service on what is today a very rare , legacy arrangement, will not necessarily get you consistent, accurate information, but the letter you got should be accurate , this forum can only give an opinion anyway ( only being a customer to customer forum) but without confirmation on what your broadband service actually is , then it’s speculative at best …..you should know if your broadband is a leased line as the equipment supplied is designed to fit in a server room rack and is clearly not a domestic piece of kit , here’s what leased line kit looks like ,

https://www.adtran-networks.com/-/media/adva-main-site/resources/data-sheets/pdfs/fsp-150cc.ashx?la=en&hash=F384ED26D3597D0DBCFE6B951038CC3864D3A88C

it’s also multiple times the cost of domestic broadband or FTTP , so if you are paying less than £100 a month and we’re not tied to a 5 year deal , it’s very unlikely you have a fibre leased line and you have domestic grade broadband even if it were sold to you as a business connection,

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

licquorice — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 09:40:17 GMT

Am I missing something here, the OP has 2 entirely separate services, one FTTP broadband the other copper PSTN. SMPF doesn't come into it.

There is absolutely no connection between the 2 services other than they both terminate at the same address.

Surely the business FTTP line is irrelevant in the context of what happens to the PSTN line.

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

garybs29 — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:04:11 GMT

Actually it may do, if the business provider uses openreach infrastructure too it definitely will. Any change to DV will trigger an upgrade to FTTP as well with the stop/sell so it all depends who the business bb provider is & what network they use. I suspect the letter received is exactly the one saying they need 1 provider for both going forward

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

iniltous — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 10:38:09 GMT

Until the OP clarifies the position regarding their existing broadband supply the situation is unclear ,

personally I suspect the OP has Openreach FTTP from another supplier, it’s pretty irrelevant if they take telephony with it or not , or if it’s a business or residential tariff , if they do have broadband , then clearly they don’t qualify for the ‘no broadband’ discount on their BT telephone only service so should be paying at least £31.20 , the cheapest BT broadband with PAYG is £31.99 that’s barely any different, perhaps the OP will state if they pay the appropriate fee for BT telephony when they have broadband from another supplier .

The OP states they expect BT to supply either PDPL or broadband for ‘free’ to maintain BT telephony presumably at the telephone only £31.20 price .

PDPL is the default for existing PSTN telephony only customers , it’s arguable the OP doesn’t qualify for this , even if they have currently a PSTN phone only line , for potentially one or two reasons , they already have broadband, ( the supplier is irrelevant) and Openreach FTTP is available and could be offered as preferred solution to PDPL for genuine telephone without broadband customers , this would be the case in new builds with only OR FTTP available for example.

The OP options are far as I see it ( assuming they don’t have SMPF which seems unlikely nor a leased line ) is to add telephony to their existing FTTP , potentially ending their relationship with BT completely, or take a second paid for broadband from BT and take DV with that broadband service , the cost difference of 79p is negligible compared to what they ought to be paying now .

If they currently have the phone only discount thats fraudulent, ( to be clear I’m not saying this is the case BTW , I don’t know ) but it’s easily confirmed by BT as Openreach show the status of the ONT at the address as active if service is being delivered over it ) , if the OP doesn’t want to pay for BT broadband but maintain a BT telephone service that will be with BT broadband as a second service , the only real argument is over 0.79p and if 79p is really a consideration, logically the obvious money saving solution is to save way more than 79p ( in the order of £25+ ) by adding broadband to their existing FTTP broadband and ceasing the BT telephone service , if the existing phone number is required, that’s for the new provider to arrange .

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

bomb20 — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:31:47 GMT

I didn't pick up that leased lines were what was meant by line.
The products are

BT Landline Unlinited Minutes Calling Plan

BT Business Essential Full Fibre 500

And I'm happy with that.
I don't see how it can be argued that adding VIOP to the business product is equivalent to maintaining the existing retail phone lne which has completely different terms and conditions, consumer protextion, packages etc.
I'm not even sure that BT DV woould work with my Ubiquiti router, I have never used BT routers and only last year gave up on the OpenReach modem I had with VDSL (now gone).
I talked to BT business and they really don't understand how what BT retail does would have any consequences, they did say that their new DV option might work with any router and this could be checked.

Note that nobody said in the past that you can't have multiple phone lines.

I don't see how it is unreasonable to expect BT to provide whatever infrastructure is needed to keep the retail phone line if that is what I want.
And now I have the Home Phone Standard info that has been sent to people, because my mother on the same exchange 3 streets away is going to be moved to that.

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

bomb20 — Wed, 19 Aug 2026 22:05:52 GMT

The OP options are far as I see it ( assuming they don’t have SMPF which seems unlikely nor a leased line ) is to add telephony to their existing FTTP , potentially ending their relationship with BT completely, or take a second paid for broadband from BT and take DV with that broadband service , the cost difference of 79p is negligible compared to what they ought to be paying now .

Do you know if Openreach has a multi-port ONT solution now? Last time I looked into this there was a trial.
As for prices, I really don't know, that is something I have yet to check, I tend to just go with whatever products seem to make sense at the time for various reasons. The DV with broadband has some downsides, not least having an extra router and losing phone connection if power goes out (mobile is not very reliable).

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

garybs29 — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:56:15 GMT

Lets be blunt here, doesn't matter what you think is reasonable, fact is things are changing & you need to make a decision o keep the phone number

The response from BT business is laughable too tbh they should clearly.know whats happening

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

imjolly — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:04:19 GMT

@bomb20

DV will only work with the BT residential router no third party or BT business

openreach no longer supply multi port ONT link from another recent post

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/no-more-multiport-ont-from-openreach-with-its-full-fibre-services

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

bomb20 — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:17:44 GMT

I know I have to make a choice and by 2030 it seems the copper option will be gone.

I entered into this based on media reporting over some time (this is where I got the impression that you would not have to pay any extra for broadband needed to deliver a phone service). What makes it complicated is the mixed ISP situation and that most reporting write BT and then is it not clear if that just means BT retail.

For example from one of the recent Which? articles...

https://www.which.co.uk/reviews/broadband/article/digital-voice-and-the-landline-phone-switch-off-what-it-means-for-you-aPSOH8k1i6Vv

What if I don't have or want a broadband connection?
Those who currently only have a landline won't be forced to pay for broadband services that they don't want or need.
Until 2030, landline-only customers using the Openreach network will be provided with a 'dedicated landline service' that will work using a service similar to what they currently have (it uses the copper network to the telephone exchange). Beyond that, landline-only services are likely to work using a special dedicated broadband connection.
BT has made a specific commitment to telecoms regulator Ofcom that its landline-only customers will pay the same amount,

I'm still not clear what all the options are:

1. Change analog phone line to broadband+DV as BT are telling me I would have to do (but comments here seem to be saying it is not clear you can have two broadband connections, which would be connected on the same pole.
2. Migrate the home phone number to the business broadband with their 'new' DV product. (Essential is £15).
But would this work with my router and not a BT one.
3. Add a generic VIOP plan to the current broadband I have.
4. Keep trying to get the Home Phone Standard BT offering which I think would not affect the business connection but in the end is likely to be only temporary unless we get more media stories of people in storms not being able to use their phones in remote areas.
5. Give up on landline

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

garybs29 — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 08:40:45 GMT

Don't know where you got 2030 from it's happening by January 2027

Also you're focusing on "if I don't have broadband" options but you do so they don't apply in this situation

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

iniltous — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 09:01:42 GMT

Do you qualify for the social tariff ( so are in receipt of a qualifying benefit such as pension credit ? ) if not then you are required to pay the full price , and as you clearly already have broadband at the address you don’t qualify for the phone only discount ( even if this particular line won’t have broadband on it , it’s if the address has broadband from any source not just BT )

Without seeing the actual letter you received it’s not known what BT are suggesting , but I suspect the choices are .

Cease this telephone only service .

Port your number to a third party VoIP supplier

both of the above would be your choice , not necessarily BT’s choice.

I suspect any BT choices on offer will be ,
Convert this telephone only service to BT broadband with BT Digital Voice ,£30+, it’s irrelevant if you pay for broadband and DV , or BT supply broadband for free just so you can get for DV , as you pay £30+ anyway , or you get a PDPL , and you pay full landline price £30+ , so these are different without any real distinction, they all cost you about the same , if you buy the broadband instead of BT at least you can use it , if you get ‘free’ BT broadband just to run telephony if you use that free broadband for anything other than telephone it becomes chargeable.

If you migrate your number to VoIP (a third party provider) then you use your own router , BT wont be supplying your telephony ,(apart from your current BT business telephone) if want BT to supply the phone service then you use a BT router (not your business router ) or if it’s a PDPL there no router needed , it’s as close to a traditional line as you can get .

In my opinion you don’t qualify for PDPL ,I don’t know if you qualify for the social Home Essentials tariff but I suspect not , because you have FTTP , you don’t qualify for any telephony price reduction as you have broadband, but if you do get PDPL , expect to pay £30+, confusingly the basic FTTC broadband is also called BT Essential

I think you need to compare your situation to what the benefits you are seemingly trying to obtain are aimed at ,

Say a BT customer , that has historically only ever had telephony , no interest in having broadband and no use for it from any source , currently gets a discount from BT for being a phone only home , possibly qualifying for the social tariff needs moving off PSTN ( this is required ) so BT introduces PDPL to satisfy this type of customers need for maintaining a telephone only service, you don’t seem to ‘match’ that profile, yet you seem to have an expectation that you should get the same benefits as them .

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

bomb20 — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 11:56:13 GMT

First, thanks for the replies so far, unfortunately I'm extremely busy at the moment so can only address one thing here.

The 2030 date came from the Which? post I quoted which simultanously says copper telephone service will end in january and it will not (as I now know from 2 relatives).

The 2030 date has been mentioned much earlier, for example: https://voipinsight.com/what-is-happening-with-bt-digital-voice/?_sm_nck=1

I'm a bit confused with the terminology

Above article uses SOTAP
People responding to me are using PDPL
BT Retail say their option is Home Phone Standard

I'll reply to other points this evening.

Re: BT insisted I have to buy a broadband package to keep my home phone

licquorice — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:04:08 GMT

To clarify once and for all. The Analogue phone service (PSTN) is being ceased at the end of this year.

Clearly any medium that can support Broadband can obviously support DV (VoIP).

There is currently no set date for copper connectivity to be ceased and is likely to be well into the future for many communities.

The 2 things are entirely independent.