How to Reduce Your Broadband Bill in the UK

Introduction: Why So Many UK Households Are Overpaying for Broadband and Phone

If you feel like your broadband and phone bill is swallowing a big chunk of your monthly budget, you’re not alone. In this guide today, we’ll go into how to reduce your broadband bill in the UK.

Across the UK, millions of households are locked into “big brand” bundles from BT, Sky, and Virgin that combine broadband, home phone, and often TV. On the surface, these bundles are marketed as convenient, but in reality they can cost anywhere between £80 and £120 per month – and in some cases, even more.

That adds up to well over £1,000 a year for services that many families barely use. Think about it: how many of the hundreds of TV channels included in your bundle do you actually watch? How often do you use the landline, when most calls are made via mobiles or apps like WhatsApp? Yet, because these services are tied together, people end up paying for features they don’t really need.

At a time when the cost of living is rising – with food, energy, and housing costs all climbing – broadband and phone bills are an easy area to overlook. They’re often tucked away on a direct debit, quietly going up every year thanks to above-inflation price rises. Many providers automatically move customers onto “out of contract” rates that can be 30–50% higher than introductory offers. It’s what Martin Lewis and others call the “loyalty penalty”: staying put ends up costing you more.

But here’s the good news: you don’t have to keep paying over the odds. The broadband market is changing fast. In recent years, dozens of alternative networks (or “altnets”) have entered the scene, rolling out full fibre at far lower monthly prices. It’s no longer unusual to find broadband-only deals for around £25–£35 per month – often faster and more reliable than the big providers.

The home phone market is shifting too. By 2027, traditional copper landlines will be switched off in the UK, with all calls moving to digital systems (VoIP). That means paying line rental to BT or Sky just to keep your home phone is no longer necessary – you can switch your number to an internet-based service for just a few pounds a month.

In other words, those expensive bundles aren’t just costly, they’re outdated. By unbundling – choosing your broadband and phone separately – it’s possible to save hundreds of pounds a year while also future-proofing your home for the digital switchover.

This guide will show you exactly how.

Why So Many Households Overpay

The legacy of line rental

To understand why broadband and home phone bills are so high, it helps to look back. For decades, BT controlled the UK’s copper phone network. If you wanted a landline, you had to pay line rental – a monthly fee just for having access to the physical line running into your home. When broadband arrived, it piggybacked on the same copper lines. That meant most people had no choice but to keep paying line rental on top of their internet bill, even if they rarely used the landline for calls.

Fast forward to today and things have changed. Fibre is replacing copper, and mobile has replaced most landline usage. But the habit of “line rental + extras” has stuck, and many of the largest providers still use this model to inflate costs.

How bundles are structured

Providers like BT, Sky, and Virgin built their businesses on bundling. The idea is simple: instead of selling you broadband on its own, they package it with TV subscriptions, sports channels, mobile SIMs, and a “free” landline. It looks good in adverts – lots of services, one monthly bill – but the reality is that bundles are designed to lock customers in and push up average revenue.

Take Sky as an example. Their “Big Bundle” includes broadband, a landline, and a TV package with hundreds of channels. The entry price may be marketed at £40–£50 per month, but once you add faster speeds, sports, or premium channels, it’s easy for the monthly cost to creep above £80–£100.

BT follows a similar pattern. They promote “broadband + phone” packages with the line rental included, even though fewer people use the landline. On top of that, they upsell TV through BT Sport or NOW TV add-ons. Virgin Media, meanwhile, are famous for their “Big Bundle” and “Mega Bundle” deals that combine broadband, phone, TV, and sometimes a mobile SIM. The combined cost regularly tops £100 per month.

The hidden costs of “free” services

A common sales tactic is the “free landline” or “free TV” offer. But nothing is really free – it’s baked into the bundle price. The so-called free landline means you’re still paying for line rental (just repackaged), and the TV element often carries hidden fees for premium channels or equipment.

Even worse, many providers build in annual price rises linked to inflation plus a few percentage points. That means your £90 bundle this year could be closer to £100 next year, regardless of whether your service has improved. And if you go out of contract, the monthly fee can jump by 30% or more without warning.

This model works brilliantly for the providers. It makes it difficult for households to compare like-for-like broadband prices, because the bundle is stuffed with extras. It also ties people into long contracts – often 18 or 24 months – making it harder to leave.

Paying for what you don’t need

The bottom line is that most UK households are paying for services they don’t fully use. Research consistently shows that many people watch fewer than 10 TV channels regularly, yet bundles provide hundreds. Landline minutes go unused because most calls are made via mobiles or messaging apps. And line rental is a hangover from a copper network that’s being switched off by 2027.

In short: if your broadband and phone bill feels high, it’s not your imagination. The system is built that way. But with new providers and technologies now available, there are better – and cheaper – alternatives.

What’s Changing in the UK Telecoms Market

The UK is in the middle of the biggest shake-up to its phone and broadband services in decades. For years, the model was simple: broadband was delivered over copper telephone lines, and those copper lines came with a landline attached. That system is now being dismantled. Over the next two years, every household will face changes that affect how we pay for – and use – broadband and home phone services.

The “stop-sell” explained

The first sign of change is something called the “stop-sell.” Openreach, which operates most of the UK’s network, has stopped allowing providers to sell or upgrade old copper-based services in areas where full fibre is available.

In practice, that means if fibre has reached your street, you won’t be able to sign up for a traditional broadband + landline package. Instead, you’ll be offered fibre-only internet, and if you want to keep a home phone, it will be provided digitally over your broadband connection (VoIP). The message is clear: copper is being phased out, and fibre is the future.

The January 2027 copper switch-off

The stop-sell is just a stepping stone towards the bigger milestone: January 2027, when Openreach will permanently retire the UK’s copper landline network. From that date, traditional landlines will no longer exist. Every home phone service will run over broadband instead.

BT calls this change “Digital Voice,” and other providers are branding it differently, but the principle is the same. Phones will plug into your router, not the wall socket. Line rental – once a fixture of every household bill – will become a thing of the past.

For households still paying line rental just to keep their number, this is a turning point. The service you’re paying for today won’t exist after January 2027. Moving to VoIP sooner rather than later means you can port your existing number, keep your home phone if you want it, and cut your bill – instead of waiting for your current provider to set the terms.

The rise of the altnets

While copper is winding down, alternative networks (or “altnets”) are on the rise. These smaller, independent broadband providers are building their own fibre networks, especially in towns and suburbs overlooked by the big players.

Names like toob, Trooli, Giganet, Community Fibre, Hyperoptic, and Cuckoo are increasingly common. Unlike BT, Sky, or Virgin, they don’t have the legacy costs of copper networks, nor do they depend on bundling TV or phone services. They keep it simple: fast, reliable, affordable fibre.

Their streamlined model means lower prices. It’s not unusual to see gigabit-capable broadband for £25–£35 per month, with straightforward terms and fewer hidden extras. Many altnets also compete by offering perks such as free installation or guaranteed fixed prices for the length of the contract.

What this means for households

Taken together, these changes mark the end of expensive, bundle-heavy bills. Copper landlines are being switched off in January 2027, line rental will vanish, and broadband will be sold as broadband – not padded out with extras. If you want a home phone, you’ll be able to keep it through VoIP, but you won’t be forced into a pricey package to do so.

For families still paying £80–£120 per month to the big providers, now is the time to rethink. By pairing a low-cost fibre service from an altnet with a VoIP plan for your home phone, the monthly bill can often be cut in half – saving hundreds of pounds a year while staying ahead of the 2027 switch-off.

The New Way to Save Money

For years, the big providers have told us that broadband has to come wrapped up with a landline, a TV package, and a long contract. But that’s no longer true. A new generation of providers – often called alternative networks or altnets – are proving that broadband doesn’t need to be complicated or costly.

Broadband-only deals from altnets

Altnets such as Trooli, toob, Giganet, Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, and Cuckoo have been rolling out their own full fibre networks across the UK. Unlike BT, Sky, or Virgin, they don’t try to lock customers into bundles with TV or “free” extras. Instead, they sell broadband on its own – fast, reliable, and straightforward.

For many households, that’s exactly what’s needed. Streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and iPlayer have already replaced expensive TV bundles. Most people rely on mobiles for calls, and with the 2027 switch-off on the horizon, traditional landlines are disappearing anyway. So why pay for services you don’t use, when you can get the essentials for far less?

Typical pricing

One of the biggest attractions of altnets is the price. While BT, Sky, and Virgin bundles regularly cost £80–£120 per month, broadband-only packages from altnets typically come in at £25–£35 per month. That’s for full fibre connections offering ultrafast speeds, often up to 1Gbps.

To put that into perspective:

• A Sky or BT bundle might cost £95 per month (over £1,100 per year).
• An altnet broadband-only deal could be £30 per month (just £360 per year).

Even after adding a VoIP service for your home phone – around £4 per month with providers like Plexatalk – you’re still looking at less than half the cost of a traditional bundle.

It’s not unusual for households to save £700–£1,000 per year by switching.

Reliability compared with BT and Sky

Price is important, but what about reliability? After all, no one wants to save money if it means endless buffering or dropped connections.

The reality is that altnets often outperform the big providers. Because they’re building brand-new fibre networks, they’re not weighed down by ageing copper infrastructure. Fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) connections are far more stable than older fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) or ADSL services, and they deliver consistent speeds even at peak times.

BT and Sky, by contrast, still serve millions of customers via copper-based lines that are more prone to slowdowns, faults, and interference. Virgin’s cable network is fast, but it can suffer from congestion in busy areas, and customer service ratings have historically been mixed.

Altnets, on the other hand, know that reliability and customer support are their main selling points. Many of them score highly for customer satisfaction, offer UK-based support, and keep contracts shorter and simpler than the big names.

Why it makes sense now

With bundles becoming more expensive and copper landlines on the way out, the smart move is to strip things back: broadband-only from an altnet, plus VoIP for your home phone if you still need one. It’s faster, cheaper, and more future-proof than the old model – and it’s available right now in more and more parts of the UK.

What About the Landline?

For many households, the landline is more than just a number. It’s the way family and friends have stayed in touch for decades. But the technology behind it – copper telephone lines – is being retired. That change is already underway and will be complete in January 2027, when the UK’s entire copper phone network is switched off.

Why copper lines are going

The copper network has served the UK well since the late 1800s, but it was never designed for the way we use communications today. Broadband speeds are limited by copper’s capacity, faults are common, and maintaining the infrastructure is costly.

Fibre is faster, more reliable, and far cheaper to maintain in the long run. That’s why Openreach and the UK’s major providers are replacing copper with full fibre networks. Once fibre is in place, there’s no technical reason to keep the old copper running – and so it’s being phased out for good.

VoIP as the replacement

So what happens to the landline? It isn’t disappearing altogether – it’s just moving to a different technology. Instead of running over copper wires, calls will be delivered over the internet using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

BT calls this “Digital Voice,” while other providers use their own branding. But in every case, it’s the same principle: your home phone service will connect via your broadband rather than the traditional wall socket.

That means when copper is switched off in 2027, the only way to keep your landline will be through VoIP.

How VoIP works (simple explainer)

The good news is that VoIP isn’t complicated. Instead of sending your voice as an electrical signal down copper wires, VoIP turns it into a digital signal and sends it over your broadband connection.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• You can keep your existing number by “porting” it to a VoIP provider.
• You can still use a regular home phone – it simply plugs into your router or a small adapter.
• Calls work just like they always have, with the same dial tone and call quality.
• Because VoIP runs on the internet, you can also use it through an app on your mobile, so your “landline” can travel with you.

For most people, the only noticeable change will be where the phone plugs in. Everything else feels exactly the same.

Why switch now?

While the copper switch-off won’t happen until January 2027, it makes sense to move early. Providers are already restricting new copper services, and households sticking with traditional bundles risk paying for a product that’s on its way out.

By moving to VoIP now, you not only stay ahead of the change but also save money. Providers like Plexatalk offer home phone services from as little as £4 per month. Combined with a low-cost broadband-only deal from an altnet, that can cut typical household bills by hundreds of pounds each year.

Instead of waiting for BT or Sky to roll you onto their “digital voice” package – often at inflated prices – you can take control, choose a provider that suits you, and lock in big savings.

Cost Comparison: BT/Sky vs Virgin vs Altnet + Plexatalk (Illustrative)

Setup	Broadband	Home Phone	TV/Extras	Monthly Total	Annual Total	Saving vs Altnet + Plexatalk
BT/Sky Bundle (Typical)	Included	Included (line rental)	Basic TV pack	£95	£1,140	£1,140 − £408 = £732/yr
BT/Sky Bundle (Sports/Movies)	Included	Included (line rental)	Premium sports/movies	£120	£1,440	£1,440 − £408 = £1,032/yr ✅
Virgin Media Bundle	Included (cable)	Included	TV pack	£85	£1,020	£1,020 − £408 = £612/yr
Altnet + Plexatalk (VoIP)	Altnet full fibre (example)	Plexatalk VoIP	None (use streaming)	£34 (≈ £30 + £4)	£408	—

Figures are illustrative and based on common market pricing: BT/Sky typical bundle ~£95/m, premium sports/movies bundle ~£120/m, Virgin bundle ~£85/m, altnet broadband ~£25–£35/m plus Plexatalk VoIP from ~£4/m. Actual prices vary by provider, contract length, speed tier, and postcode. Excludes setup/installation fees and mid-contract price rises. Example saving shown: £1,032/year (BT/Sky premium bundle vs Altnet + Plexatalk).

Step-by-Step: How to Switch

Follow this simple sequence to drop the bundle, keep your number, and cut your bill.

1) Check availability (start with altnets)

• Search your postcode with altnets first (e.g. toob, Trooli, Giganet, Community Fibre, Hyperoptic, Cuckoo).
• If no altnet yet, check Openreach FTTP or Virgin Media, you can still go broadband-only and use VoIP for the phone.
• Aim for full fibre (FTTP) if available. It’s more reliable and future-proof than FTTC/copper.

Quick tip: Note the headline price, contract length, mid-contract price rise policy, and setup fees. Screenshot the offer you’re choosing.

2) Order broadband-only

• Choose a broadband-only plan (no landline, no TV). Typical altnet pricing is £25–£35/m.
• Book your installation date (you’ll get a fibre ONT fitted if you don’t already have one).
• Keep your current service active until your number has been ported—this avoids downtime.

3) Port your landline number to Plexatalk (VoIP)

• Do not cancel your old line before the number port. Cancelling first can lose the number.
• Sign up for Plexatalk (home VoIP from ~£4/m) and request a number port. We’ll handle the transfer with your current provider.
• On (or just before) the port date:
  • Plug your phone into the router/ATA as instructed.
  • Test inbound and outbound calls.
  • Optionally install the mobile app so your “landline” also rings on your mobile.

Handy guide: How to keep your landline when switching to FTTP (Plexatalk)

Safety note: VoIP needs power and internet. If you rely on your landline for alarms/telecare or want calling during power cuts, ask about battery backup/fallback options.

4) Cancel your old bundle (after the port completes)

• Once your number is live on Plexatalk and your new broadband is up, contact your old provider to cancel the bundle.
• Return any rented equipment (routers/TV boxes) promptly to avoid fees.
• Ask for a final bill breakdown and any pro-rata credits.

Negotiation script (if still in contract):

“I’ve switched to full fibre broadband-only and moved my phone to VoIP. Please cancel TV/phone services and confirm any early termination fees. If you can match £30–£35 for broadband-only with no CPI-plus rise, I’ll consider staying.”

Final checklist

• Full fibre available? If yes, pick broadband-only.
• Keep old service active until number port completes.
• Set up Plexatalk VoIP (~£4/m) and port your number.
• Return old kit and confirm no extra charges.

That’s it. broadband for ~£25–£35/m + Plexatalk at ~£4/m, no bloated bundle, and your same familiar home number.

Common Concerns About Switching Broadband only and VoIP

Even though VoIP is the future of home phone services, it’s normal to have a few worries before making the switch. Here are some of the most common questions people ask.

Case Study: Real-World Savings

Sometimes the easiest way to see the benefits is through a real example.

John and Sarah, Hampshire
John and Sarah live in a three-bedroom semi in Hampshire. For years, they had been paying £95 per month to BT for a bundle that included:

• Fibre broadband (part-copper line)
• A landline with free evening and weekend calls
• A basic TV package they rarely used

That worked out to £1,140 per year. When their contract came up for renewal, they realised most of what they were paying for wasn’t essential. They rarely watched the TV channels, made only the odd landline call, and their broadband speeds often dropped in the evenings.

After doing some research, they discovered toob, an altnet that had recently rolled out full fibre in their area. The package was straightforward: gigabit-capable broadband for £30 per month.

They also wanted to keep their home phone number, so they signed up with Plexatalk for £4 per month. Their number was ported across seamlessly, and their existing phone plugged into their new router with a simple adapter.

Here’s the before-and-after:

• BT bundle: £95/month (£1,140/year)
• toob broadband + Plexatalk VoIP: £34/month (£408/year)

That’s an annual saving of £732 — without losing their landline number, and with faster, more reliable broadband.

John summed it up:

“We were shocked at how much we were wasting on services we didn’t even use. Now we’re saving over £700 a year and still have everything we need.”

The Future of Home Phone & Broadband

The UK is moving towards a completely digital communications system. By January 2027, the copper landline network will be switched off for good, and every home phone service will run over broadband instead. Whether it’s branded as BT Digital Voice, Sky Internet Calls, or something else, the technology behind it is the same: VoIP.

That means the days of paying line rental just to keep a number are numbered. Every household will eventually move to digital voice, whether they choose it now or wait until their provider forces the change.

Switching to VoIP today is more than just a way to save money — it’s a way to future-proof your home. By unbundling, you can pair low-cost full fibre broadband from an altnet with a simple VoIP service like Plexatalk, keeping your number and your home phone for just a few pounds per month.

The result:

• Immediate savings — often £700–£1,000 per year compared with big-brand bundles.
• Future-ready setup — you’re already aligned with the 2027 digital switchover.
• Less waste — no paying for extras you don’t use, like hundreds of TV channels or inflated line rental charges.

The old bundle model of £80–£120 per month is being phased out. The future is broadband-only + VoIP: faster, cheaper, and more flexible.

If you’re ready to cut your bill and get ahead of the change, now’s the time to make the switch.

Here’s a clean, persuasive Conclusion + CTA you can drop in at the end of the article:

Conclusion: Switch Early, Save More

The message is simple: the old model of paying £80–£120 a month for a bundle of broadband, TV, and a landline you rarely use is on its way out. By January 2027, the copper landline network will be switched off and everyone will be using VoIP for home phone services anyway.

Why wait until then — or until your provider announces the next price rise? By switching now, you can:

• Cut your broadband and phone bill by £700–£1,000 per year.
• Keep your existing landline number.
• Enjoy faster, more reliable full fibre broadband from an altnet.
• Be fully ready for the digital switchover in 2027.

With Plexatalk, moving your landline to VoIP is simple, affordable, and future-proof — from just £4 per month.

👉 Don’t wait until 2027 or your next BT price rise — check your altnet options today and move your landline to VoIP with Plexatalk.