A Guide to Business Phone and Broadband

Why has business phone and broadband changed since 2020?

The copper-line bundle that paired ADSL or FTTC broadband with a traditional phone line is being retired. Openreach is switching off the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and ISDN, so any business still on a copper voice line must migrate before the deadline.

When this guide first appeared, most UK businesses ran a phone line plus FTTC. That model is disappearing. The replacement is broadband-only connectivity carrying cloud VoIP for voice. Ofcom oversees this national migration to digital landlines, so the change is regulatory, not optional (Ofcom).

This is not a billing footnote. It changes how you buy. Instead of one bundled monthly charge, you choose a connectivity layer and a voice layer, then decide whether one supplier should own both. Our take: split the decision, then judge whether a bundle genuinely beats best-of-breed parts on cost and reliability.

What are the main business broadband options in 2025?

Three connection types cover almost every UK business: FTTC, FTTP and leased lines. FTTC is the ageing copper-tail option, FTTP is full fibre to your building, and a leased line is a dedicated, uncontended circuit with a formal SLA. Most SMEs in fibre coverage should default to FTTP.

The table below compares the business broadband options on the metrics that decide real-world fit.

FTTC delivers up to 80Mbps download and 20Mbps upload, but the copper final mile from cabinet to building caps performance — sit far from the cabinet and you lose speed. It strains once a growing team runs video calls, Microsoft 365 and cloud backup at once.

FTTP runs fibre directly to the premises, so a 300Mbps line delivers close to 300Mbps regardless of distance. Coverage has expanded sharply since 2020 across CityFibre, Openreach and regional networks. For businesses needing dedicated, uncontended bandwidth and a guaranteed fix time, a business leased line is the right call, with 100Mbps a common entry point.

How does business VoIP replace the old phone line?

VoIP (Voice over IP) is calling delivered over your internet connection instead of a copper telephone line. Calls become data packets, travel over your broadband or leased line, and convert back at the far end. To the caller it sounds identical to a traditional call — often better on HD-audio systems.

There are two mainstream routes for business VoIP, and the right one depends on whether your team already lives in Microsoft 365.

• Hosted PBX — a cloud phone system that replaces an on-premises exchange. You keep existing numbers, add or remove users without hardware, and manage call recording, auto-attendant, queuing and forwarding from a web portal. Market pricing typically starts from £5.95 per user per month. See our hosted phone system breakdown.
• Microsoft Teams Calling — for firms already on Microsoft 365, the Microsoft Teams Calling option turns Teams into your phone system with the right licence and a SIP trunk or Calling Plan. It integrates natively with your calendar, contacts and collaboration tools, with no separate platform to run (Microsoft 365).

Microsoft Teams Phone has seen strong, sustained growth in PSTN calling adoption worldwide. That trajectory matters: if your staff already work in Teams all day, adding calling there removes a whole separate system.

Should you still bundle phone and broadband?

Sometimes. The appeal of a bundle is simplicity — one supplier, one bill, one support number. Unified communications providers still package VoIP and broadband into a single monthly cost, which suits firms that value a single point of contact over squeezing the last pound of value.

But a bundle is not automatically the cheapest or best route. A specialist connectivity provider may deliver a stronger line than a general telecoms operator, and a dedicated VoIP platform usually offers more features than the calling tucked inside a bundle. Always price the component parts against the bundle before signing.

This is where a single accountable provider earns its keep without forcing a one-size bundle. AMVIA evaluates standalone broadband and VoIP against unified packages and recommends the combination that fits each business on cost, features and reliability — one provider, security-first, Microsoft-certified engineers behind the build.

What do you need to do before the PSTN switch-off?

Act now if your business still runs anything on copper voice. The PSTN switch-off is scheduled for 31 January 2027, after which analogue and ISDN lines stop working. Migrate to a fibre connection and VoIP, and most firms see lower costs and better call quality within months.

Check for any of these before the deadline:

• Traditional analogue phone lines (PSTN/POTS)
• ISDN2 or ISDN30 lines
• Broadband delivered over a copper phone line (ADSL, or FTTC with a traditional line)

The migration path is consistent: move to broadband-only connectivity (FTTP or a leased line), then adopt VoIP for all voice. Around 2.4 million UK businesses still operate on PSTN or ISDN lines, the majority SMEs, and approximately 33% of large corporations still rely on analogue for some communications (Aircall). For the full timeline and migration steps, read our PSTN switch-off 2025 guide.