It is because almost all broadband services use the national infrastructure to connect you they simply buy bandwidth wholesale and then make a small portion of that available to each of their subscribers.
One day, when every connection to every premises in the UK is a fibre connection not a copper one, this will change. Historically, in pre-Internet days, you would have paid for the rental of a phone line and then be charged for call costs on top of that.
These would be shown separately on your bill. That still happens today, but since hardly anyone makes landline calls, the line rental charge tends to look like an extra. It would probably make more sense to add that cost to the overall charge for the broadband — but that makes the broadband look like it costs more.
In practice, ISPs do have to be clear about the total cost of a broadband service these days, but that was not always the case and consequently, the perception that the landline is some line of additional cost has perpetuated.
If you need a connection that will give you Mbps download speeds or more, you should expect to pay a lot more for it than you would for a standard connection. Only a handful of service provider who have their own network infrastructure.
Such companies are few and far between — setting up a national wide fibre network is hugely expensive, which is why there are only a few companies doing it. To make it pay, they tend to target one city, town, or area at a time, so availability of such services is confined to places that are in reach of their network.
This is why most Internet services providers purchase space on the national network instead — as they can then reach out to the whole country. Broadband-only might seem like a good idea for businesses, even if the cost saving is small. But the fact is that most businesses do need a phone line, so having one is a good idea.
But for the speeds you get it can often be worth that extra spend. And if you look out for the best fibre broadband deals you could even make a saving. These also are far more future-proof options since those cables are potentially limitless in speed, all you need to do to upgrade is change subscription and perhaps your router when the time comes.
Another way to avoid getting a landline is to go for a 4G broadband or mobile broadband connection. In both cases this uses radio signals sent over the air to get you broadband speed internet — much like your smartphone does. These options are both great if you are in an area where there isn't a cable connection available yet. In the case of 4G or 5G broadband, you will have a receiver box installed on the outside of your home that connects to the network.
This will connect to a router in your home which will then act as a WiFi network for all your devices. So for all intents and purposes you shouldn't notice the difference between over the air and cable delivered broadband. Mobile broadband is slightly different as this uses a MiFi device to receive network signals, like a smartphone does.
But it also creates a WiFi network, like a router, so other devices can connect to it. This offers the advantage of being battery powered and mobile, so you can use it anywhere you go. Luke is a freelance writer and editor with over two decades of experience covering tech, science and health. Among many others he writes across Future titles covering health tech, software and apps, VPNs, TV, audio, smart home, antivirus, broadband, smartphones, cars and plenty more. Satellite broadband can be another great option if you cannot access the internet through your phone line.
To have satellite broadband you will need a satellite dish installed at your home, and this can be quite expensive. You should also watch out for download limits which are less common with other packages, and you are likely to suffer from lag which could limit your internet use.
If you need fast broadband without a landline then fibre-optic is really your only option. Virgin Media is currently the only major supplier of broadband without a phone line.
This is because it operates on its own cable network which is separate from Openreach. A super-fast broadband connection without paying line rental is often very expensive. However, if you cannot access the internet through a phone line, and you need a fast connection, you can still compare the for your home. Broadband without line rental can be cheaper if your internet use is fairly limited.
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