Keeping Landline number whilst waiting for FTTP to arrive c2026

[#1]

Dear all,

I have FTTC, that comes a long way (almost 2 miles) from the cabinet via partly overhead and then by copper and aluminium underground and up a pole in the roadside behind my garage.

It then comes overhead from the pole into my loft. This was great in 1988 when the phone, then dialup was distributed to extensions around the house.

When FTTC came along I got it moved to just inside a cupboard door which opens from the loft to a bedroom. I can lean inside but the Plusnet router can really only be used by Wi-Fi at about 19mb.
If I really have to to connect direct to the router I have to get on the floor because there is the room door and a radiator partially in the way.

Airband installed fibre along the road but overhead from pole to pole. As I heard poor reports of their FTTP service in our road so I have waited.

A few months ago Openreach had five vans and as one was blocking my drive I asked what they were doing and they said preparing for FTTP.

I registered an interest and had an email on 1/8/25 saying it will be available between now and the December 2026. I would like to go with it, and get it moved from the loft, ideally not to the first floor bedroom but to a ground floor living room immediately below a part of the loft.

I have now been emailed on 23/10/25 that Plusnet will be ending the phone service on a date to be advised.

The trouble is my wife wants to keep the landline and especially the number!

Any ideas how I can keep it prior to the FTTP arriving sometime next year! I cannot do the wiring so had been hoping to get OpenReach with the fibre to do it but it looks like the phone service will go sooner than I hoped.

Any ideas or further info required, remembering I am not tech competent!

Thanks in advance for any help.

Wuz

[#2]

@Wuz 

If you are on FTTC then a SOGEA connection should be available. Have a look at the following and see what it says.

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

SOGEA is basically the Internet without a phone service. To keep your phone number you need to go to VOIP. PN do not offer this though they would transfer yo to EE. Other ISP's also do both.

If you want to stay with PN then you need an independant VOIP supplier. You wait until your account with PN is moved to SOGEA then you have 30 days to port the number. There would be some down time on the phone line and you need to set up your phones to work with VOIP yourself.

Brian

[#3]

Was this a LANDLINES ARE CHANGING email?

These are generic information messages advising that at some indeterminate date, the voice PTSN will be closing.  If you want to retain the existing telephone number, the you need to move the number to a VoIP provider.

You do not need to wait for FTTP to do that.  VoIP can be delivered over any internet connection.  If you want to do that now, read around this board, there are dozens of threads in this topic detailing everything you are likely to need to know.

Essential point - if you want to do that before FTTP arrives, you need to change the FTTC service to SoGEA first.  That’s the same as what you have now without the phone.  Not doing that first will trash the broadband service and your Plusnet account.

This is explained in the many threads on this forum.

[#4]

@Townman 

Good point about the email.

@Wuz 

What exactly does the email say? Is it from PlusNet?

Brian

[#5]

@Wuz 

I would hang on and do nothing at the moment.

Hopefully full fibre will be available soon (my rough estimate would be 6 months from a cluster of Openreach installers but it may be longer).

If you have remaining time on your Plusnet contract I would wait until you get close to the end and see what is possible then.

On the assumption you would like to stay with Plusnet, it's time to think about a VoIP supplier to take your phone line (but you don't need to start the VoIP service yet).

It's also a good time to consider how you would like the full fibre installed. You can put the ONT (fibre converter) in one place and the router in another but you need to provide the connecting cable.

[#6]

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@Wuz wrote:

The trouble is my wife wants to keep the landline and especially the number!

Any ideas how I can keep it prior to the FTTP arriving sometime next year! 

---

In 2023, when it became clear that Plusnet were going to abandon phone services, I migrated to Zen – SOGEA with Digital Voice, retaining the landline number. Switching was seamless.

I think FTTP is available in my road, but I haven't pursued it as I don't need the speed.

[#7]

Thanks all,

It was a Plusnet email just asking me to get prepared.

I have 10months to run on my account. 

Thanks for giving me an idea that OpenReach may take longer than I thought. It would be great if they were delayed. Never thought I would say that!

When my wife gets back I will go through the options. I will come back when I get the next Plusnet email with the phone closure date or my better half has more questions.

Regards,

Wuz

[#8]

@Wuz 

Good advice from PN suggesting you get prepared so when the time comes you have a good idea of what you want to do.

You have two options, the first of which has two further options.

You can ask PN to transfer you FOC to EE for their combined Internet / Phone service. This is perhaps the easiest option as they supply what's required for the phone service and there's little downtime on the phone.

Depending on your contract you could choose to move to another ISP like Zen Internet. They probably have a better reputation and router than EE. I'm sure there are other ISP's out there you could choose from.

The second option is to stay with PN on a SOGEA connection and move your phone to a VOIP service. More work required but large choice of VOIP providers.

Depending on your phone usage A&A have a good reputation.
https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/

Brian