Somewhere in your broadband bill’s history there is a line you almost certainly never use: the landline. For decades you could not have broadband without paying for a phone line underneath it, even if the handset gathered dust and every call you made was on a mobile. That arrangement is ending. Most new broadband sold in the UK is now broadband-only — no dial tone, no phone number, no line rental for a service nobody rings you on — and the technology behind the change on the Openreach network has a name worth knowing: SoGEA. This page explains what broadband without a landline actually means, what you gain, what you quietly give up, and how to decide. If you are comparison-shopping as you read, our guide to UK broadband providers shows which providers lead with broadband-only deals, and you can sanity-check your current speeds any time on the SpeedTestUK homepage.
Why broadband used to come with a phone line attached
ADSL and part-fibre (FTTC) broadband were designed as guests on the voice network: the broadband signal was layered on top of a working analogue phone line, so the line had to exist, and be rented, first. Providers bundled the two charges together for years, then Ofcom rules forced the phone line cost to be shown inside a single headline price — but the line was still there, still maintained, still part of what you paid for. Meanwhile behaviour moved on: most households now make and receive essentially all calls on mobiles, and Ofcom’s switchover programme is retiring the analogue phone network entirely, with the old PSTN closing in January 2027. A network that no longer sells phone lines needs broadband products that do not depend on one. That is the gap SoGEA was built to fill.
SoGEA, in plain English
SoGEA stands for Single Order Generic Ethernet Access. Strip the jargon and it means this: the provider places one order with Openreach for a broadband-only connection, instead of an order for a phone line plus an order for broadband on top of it. The physical wires do not change — on a part-fibre connection it is still fibre to the street cabinet and copper from the cabinet to your home, at the same speeds as the equivalent package with a phone line (the usual tiers run up to 80Mb down and 20Mb up). What changes is what the copper pair carries: data only. There is no dial tone, no landline number and no analogue voice service on the line at all. Plug a traditional phone into the socket and you will hear silence.
Full fibre and Virgin Media cable connections are also “single order” in this sense: they never needed a phone line, because they were never built on the voice network. SoGEA is specifically the part-fibre/copper version — the product that lets the millions of homes still on FTTC connections drop the line rental while keeping the same wires and the same speed. Industry explainers such as this SoGEA overview describe the same mechanics from the network side. In practice, you may never see the word SoGEA on a consumer bill: providers sell it as “broadband only”, “no landline needed” or simply as their standard package, and quietly supply SoGEA behind the scenes.
What broadband-only actually saves you
Be suspicious of anyone promising a fortune. Line rental was never really a £20 saving waiting to be unlocked, because providers re-priced packages when the costs were bundled into one headline figure. Broadband-only deals are typically a few pounds a month cheaper than the rare equivalent packages that still include a traditional phone service, and the bigger win is honesty: one product, one bill, nothing charged for a handset you do not own. As an illustrative example, a household renewing a part-fibre deal might see £27 a month broadband-only against £31 for the same speed with a landline-and-calls package attached — a real saving, but a modest one. The stronger reasons to go broadband-only are simplicity and future-proofing: your connection is already in the form everything will take after the analogue switch-off, so there is no forced migration waiting for you later — the subject our landline switch-off article covers in full.
What you give up — read this part carefully
- Your landline number, unless you act. A broadband-only order does not carry your number anywhere. If the number matters — it is the one your family, GP or bank has used for twenty years — you need a digital voice service instead: your provider’s own (such as BT Digital Voice) or an independent VoIP service that ports the number onto your broadband. Ask about this before ordering broadband-only, because a ceased line’s number is usually gone for good. Ofcom’s guidance on the future of landline calls explains how digital voice replaces the old service.
- Calls in a power cut. The old copper line was powered from the exchange, so a corded phone worked during a blackout. Broadband of any kind dies with your router unless you have battery backup, and digital voice dies with it. Providers must offer a backup solution to vulnerable customers; everyone else should consciously keep a charged mobile as the emergency phone.
- Anything plugged into the old line. Telecare pendants, monitored burglar alarms, care-line units and fax machines that dial over the phone line will not work on a data-only connection. Modern replacements exist (mobile- or broadband-based), but they must be arranged with the alarm or telecare provider — do not discover this after the switch.
- Nothing else, really. Your speed, your router and your Wi-Fi are unchanged. Friends who “kept the landline” on an identical FTTC package have the same broadband you do; they are just also renting a dial tone.
Who should go broadband-only, and who should pause
Go ahead confidently if your household lives on mobiles, your old handset is decorative, and nothing in the house dials out over the phone line. That describes most homes, which is why broadband-only is now the default offer: run your address through our broadband availability checker, compare the deals at your speed on the providers guide, and order the one you like — for most switches the change is handled for you. Pause and take advice first if you or someone in the house relies on a telecare alarm, if a landline number is deeply embedded in your life and you have not sorted its digital replacement, or if your home has poor mobile signal and frequent power cuts — the combination that makes a traditional line genuinely valuable. Even then, the answer is usually “broadband plus digital voice plus battery backup”, arranged deliberately, rather than clinging to the analogue line that is being switched off anyway.
How the switch to broadband-only actually happens
In most cases, nothing dramatic happens at all. If you are recontracting with your current provider on a part-fibre package, the move from a with-line service to SoGEA is a back-office change: the voice service is switched off on the line, the broadband carries on over the same wires, and your router usually needs no visit and no replacement. Order online and the change completes on a set date, with a short break in service while it goes through. If you are moving to a new provider at the same time, the switch follows the normal One Touch Switch pattern and the new service is supplied broadband-only from day one. The moments to pay attention are the order screens and the confirmation email: check they say broadband-only (or SoGEA) if that is what you chose, and if keeping your number matters, confirm the voice arrangement appears on the same order — a separate, later order for digital voice after the line has ceased is how numbers get lost.
Frequently asked questions
Can I get broadband without a landline at my address?
Almost certainly yes. If full fibre or cable reaches you, those services never needed a phone line. If you are on a part-fibre (FTTC) connection, the broadband-only version is SoGEA, available wherever FTTC is. The only homes that cannot easily drop the line are the shrinking number on ADSL-only connections, where transitional products apply — your provider can confirm which applies to you.
Will my broadband be slower without a landline?
No. SoGEA uses the same cabinet, the same copper pair and the same speed tiers as the equivalent package with a phone line. Measure what you get now with our broadband speed test; a broadband-only version of the same package should measure the same, because the line was carrying your broadband all along — it was just carrying an unused dial tone too.
Can I keep my landline number with broadband-only?
Not on the broadband-only product itself — it has no number. To keep the number, order a digital voice service alongside the broadband (your provider’s own, or a standalone VoIP provider) and have the number ported to it before the old line is ceased. Do this in the right order: port first, cease second.
What happens in a power cut if I have no landline?
Your broadband and any digital voice service stop working until power returns, unless you add a battery backup unit for the router. Keep a mobile charged for emergencies. Providers are required to offer at least a one-hour backup solution to customers who are reliant on their landline; ask yours what it provides if that is you.
Is broadband without a landline cheaper?
Usually a little — typically a few pounds a month against the equivalent with-line package, because modern pricing bundles most costs together. Judge deals on the total monthly price for your speed, not on “no line rental” marketing: a broadband-only deal at £30 is worse than a with-line deal at £27 if the speeds match.
The line was history anyway — drop it on your terms
The analogue phone line is being retired in January 2027 whether any of us renew it or not. Going broadband-only now simply means making the change deliberately — number ported if it matters, alarm checked if one exists — instead of having it made for you at the deadline. Check what is available at your address with our broadband availability checker, pick the broadband-only deal that suits, and let the dusty handset retire with some dignity.
