TalkTalk PSTN switch-off where full fibre not available

TalkTalk say they will only offer a landline with a full fibre connection. OpenReach says there are no plans to offer full fibre at my postcode (which is in a small town called London). So, will I have to switch ISP, as it appears all other ISPs offer a landline service via FTTC, by plugging phone into router.

All that means is that TalkTalk do not offer a VoIP service. There are lots of suppliers who will supply a VoIP service over a TalkTalk internet connection so it is not difficult to remain with TalkTalk for internet and use a third party VoIP supplier to add a voice service to the TalkTalk internet connection.

There has been mention of them 'temporarily' not making a Digital Voice / VoIP product available for non-FTTP connections, see https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/06/broadb... and https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/06/isp-ta... which does seem to have expanded to existing PSTN+FTTC customers.
It appears related to their migration to a new customer management system. Not being able to sell products they did previously for an extended period smacks of bad planning and/or implementation, likely not helped by making a load of staff redundant, especially with the looming PSTN switch-off (after not bothering to get on with migrations for the last couple of years).
Given that they keep selling off batches of residential clients to temporarily help with cashflow jumping ship might be in your best interests.

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

All that means is that TalkTalk do not offer a VoIP service. There are lots of suppliers who will supply a VoIP service over a TalkTalk internet connection so it is not difficult to remain with TalkTalk for internet and use a third party VoIP supplier to add a voice service to the TalkTalk internet connection.

As this, if you want to stay with TT then use a separate VoIP provider, we do this and it's much better for us as the 'landline' is not tied to the house, i.e. I have an app on my phone to answer VoIP calls. AFAIK ISP's like BT, Sky, Vodafone, TT, do not offer this service.

In reply to a post by macarter99:

So, will I have to switch ISP, as it appears all other ISPs offer a landline service via FTTC, by plugging phone into router.

Not "all other ISPs": getting voice from the same provider will limit your choice of ISP. For example, PlusNet don't do digital voice.

The main ones I know that supply a digital voice service are BT, EE, Sky, Vodafone and Zen (you pay extra for it on the latter).

As others have suggested, separating the voice service to a different provider will give you flexibility to change provider, for example if an altnet becomes available in your area. And it also means you can switch provider without transferring the voice number, which is usually OK but does come with some risk.

Of course, you need to pay extra for the VOIP service. If you make few outgoing calls, then the AAISP PAYG service at less than £2 per month is the best deal around.

If you make lots of outgoing calls then there are many VOIP providers who will sell you a bundle with inclusive minutes in the £8-£15 per month range. However, you're more likely to be better off making calls from your mobile phone, where you can get 1000 minutes or unlimited calls for £5-£10 per month.

Thanks very much to those who replied, all posts were educational and useful.