Looking for an Alternative to Fleur Telecom?
If you were previously a TalkTalk customer and your service has recently moved to Fleur Telecom, you may now be looking at your options. Unlike a conventional switch, where you actively choose a new provider, some former TalkTalk customers have found themselves with Fleur following the transfer of their service.
That does not necessarily mean you need to change anything. If you are happy with Fleur Telecom, you can simply continue with your existing service. However, if you are already searching for a Fleur Telecom alternative, it is worth knowing that you have more than one way to approach the decision.
You might want to use a different broadband provider, prefer not to have your broadband and home phone tied together, or simply want more control over a landline number that you may have had for many years.
This is particularly relevant as the UK moves away from traditional analogue landlines towards digital telephone services. Increasingly, home phone calls are being delivered using an internet connection rather than the old analogue telephone network.
Crucially, changing your arrangements does not necessarily mean finding another company to replace both Fleur broadband and your home phone.
You can potentially separate your broadband and landline services. Your broadband can come from the provider that suits your household, while your existing home telephone number can be moved to an independent VoIP provider such as Plexatalk. This gives you another option for keeping your familiar landline number while choosing broadband separately.
Why Have TalkTalk Customers Been Moved to Fleur Telecom?
If you were a TalkTalk customer and have recently received communications from Fleur Telecom, you are not alone. Around 13,500 residential broadband and telephone customers were transferred from TalkTalk to Fleur Telecom in 2026, with Fleur taking responsibility for the affected accounts from 1 September.
For customers included in the transfer, this was not the same as shopping around and choosing a new provider. TalkTalk notified the affected customers of the change, with their accounts then moving across to Fleur.
Importantly, the transfer itself was intended to cause as little disruption as possible. Customers were due to keep their existing package, pricing, terms and conditions, while Fleur states that their phone number and underlying network would also remain the same. In practical terms, the main immediate change was the company managing the account, providing support and issuing the bill.
Many of the customers being transferred were also using older types of telephone and broadband service, including what the telecoms industry calls WLR and ADSL.
You do not need to understand those abbreviations to understand what is happening. Broadly, these are older services associated with the traditional copper telephone network. That network is now being replaced by newer digital technology, meaning many households using older connections will need to be migrated to modern services.
This also helps explain why someone might now be searching for an alternative to Fleur Telecom. Being moved to a provider as part of a customer transfer is different from actively comparing the market and choosing that provider yourself. That does not mean there is anything wrong with staying with Fleur; customers who are happy with the service can continue using it.
For those who do want to review their options, however, the transfer comes at an important time. The UK’s traditional telephone network is undergoing a much wider move towards digital landlines, and that change opens up different ways to arrange your home phone and broadband.
Why the Digital Landline Switch-Off Matters
At the same time as some former TalkTalk customers are getting used to having Fleur Telecom as their provider, another much bigger change is taking place across the UK: the move away from the traditional analogue telephone network.
For decades, a home landline worked through the familiar telephone socket in the wall. Your telephone service travelled over the traditional phone network, while broadband was often supplied over the same copper line. As a result, most of us became accustomed to thinking of the landline and broadband as two parts of the same service.
That is changing.
The old analogue telephone network is being retired, and home phone services are increasingly becoming digital. You may see terms such as the PSTN switch-off, WLR withdrawal, digital landline or VoIP used to describe different parts of this transition.
For an ordinary household, the important point is much simpler: your home telephone calls can now be carried using an internet connection instead of relying on the old analogue telephone service.
You can still have a home telephone number. You can still make and receive calls in much the same way. Depending on the equipment and service you choose, you may even be able to continue using your existing landline handset with a suitable VoIP adapter.
For former TalkTalk customers who have been transferred to Fleur, the timing is significant. You are potentially reviewing who provides your services at the same time as the technology behind the traditional home phone is changing.
That may sound like another complication, but it can also be an opportunity.
Once telephone calls are delivered digitally, it becomes easier to think of your internet connection and telephone service as two separate things. Your broadband provides the internet connection, while a VoIP provider can provide your home telephone service over that connection.
That leads to an important question:
If your landline is becoming digital anyway, does your home phone actually need to come from your broadband provider?
Not necessarily. With an independent VoIP service such as Plexatalk, you can potentially move your existing landline number to a dedicated home phone service while choosing your broadband provider separately.
What Are the Alternatives to Fleur Telecom?
If you are looking for a Fleur Telecom alternative, it is useful to start by considering what you actually want to change. You do not necessarily need to move everything to another provider.
Broadly, there are three approaches.
The first is simply to stay with Fleur Telecom. If the service, price and arrangements suit you, there is no need to switch purely because your account was transferred from TalkTalk.
The second option is to move your broadband and home phone together to another provider. This is the traditional approach: you compare packages available at your address and choose another company to provide both services. What is available will depend on your location, current arrangements and any contractual commitments you have.
There is also a third option that is sometimes overlooked: separate your broadband from your home telephone service.
Instead of searching for one company to replace everything Fleur provides, you can choose broadband based on what matters to you — such as speed, availability, price or the type of connection — and use a specialist VoIP provider separately for your home phone.
This changes the question from:
“Which company should replace Fleur?”
to two separate questions:
“Who do I want supplying my broadband?”
and:
“Who do I want looking after my home phone number?”
That distinction can be particularly important if your landline number matters more to you than the company supplying your internet.
Many households have kept the same home telephone number for years. It may be the number held by friends and relatives, doctors, tradespeople and other important contacts. You may therefore want to keep that number even if you decide to change how you receive your broadband.
With an independent VoIP provider such as Plexatalk, the aim is to separate those decisions. Your existing landline number can potentially be transferred to the VoIP service, while your broadband is supplied independently.
In other words, Plexatalk does not have to replace Fleur Telecom as an entire broadband-and-phone package. It can instead provide the home phone element, giving you greater freedom to decide where your internet connection comes from.
Can I Leave Fleur Telecom and Keep My Landline Number?
In many circumstances, yes. If you decide to leave Fleur Telecom, an existing UK geographic landline number can normally be transferred to another telephone provider rather than being lost when you switch.
This process is known as number porting. Put simply, it means moving your telephone number from your current provider to your new provider.
Plexatalk can arrange for an existing landline number to be transferred to its VoIP service, subject to the number being eligible for porting and the transfer being accepted.
From your perspective, very little needs to change for the people calling you. Your telephone service moves to Plexatalk, but the familiar number remains the one that friends and family use to reach you.
That can be particularly valuable if you have had the same home number for many years. Your number might already be held by your GP surgery, hospital, bank, utility companies, clubs, carers and other organisations. Friends and relatives may know it by heart or have had it saved in their address books for decades.
Keeping the number avoids having to contact everyone with a replacement.
There is, however, an important point to understand if keeping your number is a priority:
Do not simply cancel your existing telephone service before arranging the number transfer.
Number porting is generally much more straightforward while the existing service and number remain active. Cancelling first can complicate the process and potentially put the number at risk.
Instead, arrange the port with the new telephone provider before making changes to the existing service. Plexatalk uses a Letter of Authorisation as part of its switching process and can help customers through the necessary steps.
It may sometimes be possible to recover and transfer a number shortly after a service has already been cancelled. However, this should not be relied upon as your switching strategy.
If keeping your home phone number is particularly important to you, contact us at Plexatalk before cancelling or changing your existing Fleur telephone service. The team can check the circumstances of your number and explain the appropriate order for arranging the transfer.
Why Separate Your Home Phone From Your Broadband?
For many years, home broadband and landline services have been sold together. Your broadband provider supplied the internet connection, looked after your telephone service and managed your landline number, usually as part of the same account.
That arrangement can be convenient, but it also creates a dependency between the two services. When you decide to change broadband provider, you may also have to think about what happens to your home phone and, importantly, the telephone number you want to keep.
Moving your landline number to an independent VoIP provider such as Plexatalk offers a different approach.
Instead of treating broadband and your home phone as one package, you can separate them:
Broadband → Provider of your choice
Home phone → Plexatalk
Existing number → Ported to Plexatalk
Your Plexatalk home phone service then uses your internet connection to make and receive calls, but Plexatalk does not need to be the company providing that internet connection.
The longer-term benefit is flexibility.
Perhaps today you choose full fibre from one broadband company because it offers the right combination of speed and price. In a few years, you might find a better deal elsewhere or decide that a different type of internet connection suits your household.
If your telephone number is already with Plexatalk, changing broadband provider does not necessarily mean moving your home phone number again. Your broadband can change underneath it while your telephone service remains with the same VoIP provider.
That distinction can be particularly useful for households that view these two services differently. You might regard broadband as something to compare and shop around for every few years, while regarding your home telephone number as a permanent point of contact that you would prefer to leave alone.
Separating the services will not be the right choice for everybody. Some people prefer having broadband and telephone services with one company, receiving one bill and having one provider to contact.
But if you are already looking for an alternative to Fleur Telecom, it is worth knowing that another bundled provider is not your only option. You can potentially choose broadband on its own merits while keeping your established home number with a separate, dedicated telephone provider.
Can I Keep My Existing Home Telephone?
For many households, yes. Moving your landline to VoIP does not necessarily mean replacing the telephone you already know how to use.
If you have a traditional corded telephone or a cordless DECT phone with a base station, it can often be connected to Plexatalk using a small device called a VoIP adapter.
We can supply a pre-configured Grandstream HT802 VoIP adapter, currently priced at £50 as a one-off cost. Because the adapter is configured for the service before it reaches you, you do not need to understand complicated VoIP settings to get started.
The basic setup looks like this:
Existing telephone / DECT base → VoIP adapter → broadband router → Plexatalk
Instead of plugging your telephone into the traditional wall phone socket, you connect it to the adapter. The adapter then connects to your broadband router. It effectively acts as the bridge between a familiar home telephone and the newer internet-based phone service.
If you have several cordless handsets connected to one DECT base station, you would normally connect the base station to the adapter rather than replacing each individual handset. Compatibility can vary, so it is sensible to check your particular equipment before switching.
You are not limited to keeping an old-style telephone either. Plexatalk can also be used with compatible VoIP phones, while suitable smartphone or softphone applications provide another way to make and receive calls. Plexatalk notes that authentication details need to be requested when using compatible VoIP apps.
For someone who simply wants to keep their familiar home phone and number, however, an adapter can make the transition relatively straightforward: the telephone can stay familiar even though the technology carrying the calls has changed.
Can I Keep Fleur Broadband but Move My Phone to Plexatalk?
Potentially, yes. Looking for a Fleur Telecom alternative does not necessarily mean you want to stop using every Fleur service.
You may be perfectly happy with your existing broadband connection but want more control over your home telephone number. Alternatively, you might simply prefer to separate your phone service from your broadband so that the two can be managed independently in the future.
Plexatalk’s home phone service works using a suitable internet connection. That internet connection does not inherently have to be supplied by Plexatalk.
This means your arrangement could potentially look like this:
Broadband → Fleur Telecom
Home phone → Plexatalk
Existing landline number → Ported to Plexatalk
Later, if you decide to change broadband provider, your Plexatalk telephone service and number can potentially remain where they are. You would simply use the VoIP service over your new internet connection instead.
Equally, if you already know that you want to change broadband, you can choose a new broadband provider independently rather than limiting your search to companies that also provide the particular home phone service you want.
There is one important practical consideration. Before changing or cancelling anything with Fleur, check the terms of your individual package and contract. Removing or transferring the telephone element could affect your existing services, charges or contractual arrangements.
If keeping your current landline number is important, speak to Plexatalk about the number porting process before cancelling your existing telephone service. That way, the number transfer can be considered as part of the wider change rather than as an afterthought.
What Should I Check Before Leaving Fleur Telecom?
Before changing anything, take a few minutes to establish exactly what services you currently have and what would happen if you moved them. This is particularly important if your broadband and telephone are currently supplied together.
Start by checking:
- What services you currently receive. Is Fleur providing your broadband, home telephone service or both?
- Whether you are within a minimum contract period. Do not assume that being transferred from TalkTalk automatically means you can leave without consequences.
- Your contract or minimum-term end date, where applicable.
- Any notice requirements you need to follow when changing or ending a service.
- Whether early termination charges could apply if you leave before the end of a minimum term.
- Whether changing one service affects another. For example, find out whether moving the telephone service would change the price or terms of your remaining broadband service.
- Whether you want to keep your existing landline number. If you do, make this part of your switching plan from the beginning.
The last point is especially important.
If you have had the same home phone number for years, do not simply cancel the existing telephone service and then try to move the number afterwards.
Instead, establish your contractual position with Fleur first. Then contact Plexatalk and explain that you want to transfer your existing landline number to its VoIP service. Plexatalk can check the details and guide you through the number-porting process.
Before making any changes, check with Fleur how transferring your telephone number could affect the broadband, telephone service, charges or contract you currently have. If keeping your number is important, also speak to Plexatalk before cancelling anything so the number transfer can be planned in the correct order.
We can sometimes recover a number when the previous service has already been cancelled recently, but this should be treated as a fallback rather than the preferred way to switch.
If your landline number matters to you, the safest principle is simple: check first, arrange the number transfer, and only then make the necessary changes to your existing telephone service.
Looking for an Alternative to Fleur Telecom?
For former TalkTalk customers, the move to Fleur Telecom may have been unexpected. At the same time, the wider transition from traditional analogue landlines to digital phone services means many households are having to think about how they want their home telephone to work in the future.
If you are happy with Fleur, remaining with them may be perfectly reasonable. But if the transfer has prompted you to review your options, remember that you do not necessarily have to move from one combined broadband-and-phone package straight into another.
You can separate the two.
Keep your familiar landline number with Plexatalk and choose your broadband independently.
Plexatalk’s residential VoIP plans can provide the home phone element over a suitable internet connection, while your broadband can come from whichever provider suits your household.
Most importantly, if keeping your existing telephone number matters to you, do not cancel your current telephone service first. Arrange the number port before terminating the existing service wherever possible.
Thinking of leaving Fleur Telecom but want to keep your landline number? Check out our plans here.