Whereas landlines used to be a mainstay in almost every home, the rise of mobiles has made them almost obsolete.
But many households still have them for broadband. This is because the majority of connections are made through copper phone cables. But what about fibre optic broadband? Do you still need a landline for that?
Not necessarily – some fibre optic connections bypass the traditional phone line route entirely. These include:
FTTC
The most common type of fibre optic broadband is fibre-to-the-cabinet, or FTTC. These connections use fibre optic cables from the exchange to the cabinet and then use the copper phone line for the final leg of the journey. As they are not fully fibre, they are generally on the slower end of the fibre scale.
FTTP
Full fibre connections are called fibre-to-the-premises, or FTTP. Here, a phone line is not required as the cable is routed directly from the exchange to your house. This is where you will see the fastest speeds, and if your house has not had a fibre connection before, you will need an engineer to install it.
Unfortunately, FTTP connections aren’t widely available across much of the UK. FTTC is much more common and generally cheaper, making it a more common option. However, FTTP isn’t the only type of internet that doesn’t require a phone line. Cable broadband – which is only available through Virgin Media – allows you to connect directly to Virgin’s network via Coaxial cables, rather than copper ones.
You can also find mobile broadband deals. These piggyback off mobile internet to create a WiFi connection in your home. While they aren’t readily available right now, the growth of 5G coverage could make it a much more realistic option in the near future.
