BT Digital Landline with other ISP

I still haven’t migrated from FTTC to FTTP. There’s only a few months left of “historic” copper for phones so I must get moving.

I’ve been with my premium BT Wholesale ISP for 15 years. I don’t want to lose them. I’d hoped to keep my BT “landline” after the change.

BT has just sent me an email saying , “As a result of this change you can no longer take broadband and a landline from different providers” followed by a sales pitch.

Is it true that the BT digital upgrade will only work with BT Internet and not other BT Wholesale providers?

The BT Digital phone service only works on BT/EE ISP lines. However, many ISPs have their own VoIP telephony or you can get VoIP from a 3rd party (such as AAISP). If you want to stay with BT for voice you have to have them/EE for ISP.

Who is your "premium BT Wholesale ISP"? They might offer their own digital voice service.

But in general, I think it's better for flexibility to move voice to a separate, third-party VOIP service. Then you are free to switch broadband providers in future without affecting your voice - and also it lets you use your voice service from other locations. If you don't use it much, or mainly for incoming calls, AAISP will be the lowest-cost option. You'll then need either software or hardware for the phone service; I recommended Acrobits Softphone which is a one-time pay-for Android/iOS app. It uses push notifications so minimises your phone battery drain.

Aside: this isn't so much about FTTC to FTTP migration, but rather withdrawal of the PSTN, and associated withdrawal of WLR (wholesale line rental) which let you take analogue phone service from one provider and broadband from another. Even if you were in an area without FTTP, and were sticking with copper, you would still have to migrate your voice to digital voice over FTTC (SOGEA) before Jan 2027.

In your case, since FTTP is available, switching over to that is the sensible thing to do. It may indeed be the only option if you are in an FTTP priority area with a copper "stop sell" in place.

If you want to take digital voice service from BT/EE, you are indeed required to take broadband from BT/EE too. You are also required to use the router they supply, because that's where you must plug your phone handset in. Their voice service is "locked down" so you can't access it except via their router. But since for most people the broadband is the most important part, I think you should take broadband from whoever your preferred provider is. This means taking digital voice either from the same company (if they offer it) or a third-party VOIP service.

Edited by candlerb (Mon 01-Jun-26 17:39:43)

Than you both. I'm with AA for broadband.

Thanks. I'm with AA.

In reply to a post by ARD:

Than you both. I'm with AA for broadband.

Then you're in a good situation: AA will happily migrate your voice number over to them. If you were staying on copper then it would have to be done carefully, but in practice what I think they'll do is:

1. Deliver a new FTTP line in parallel with the copper
2. Activate their VOIP service with a temporary number, so you can test it with your chosen VOIP hardware or software
3. Migrate your PSTN number to their VOIP service, which in turn will trigger a cease of the phone line and the linked FTTC broadband.

After that, you have no BT bill any more, but will keep your BT number.

Get them to manage the whole process for you - you're paying for premium support, after all! But there's no reason why this should not all go very smoothly.

Edited by candlerb (Mon 01-Jun-26 19:09:13)

Very comforting, thank you.

I would note that A&A will happily give you a VoIP service even if you don't use their Internet service, we currently have TalkTalk as ISP, and A&A provide VoIP service for our old 'landline' number, the big benifit to me is I run that 'landline' number on an APP on my mobile, so I can make and receive calls anywhere I get a data connection, be that mobile or WiFi.

I've used AA for broadband since 2011. Wouldn't want BT instead!