A Guide to Business Phone and Broadband

Why Business Phone and Broadband Has Changed

When this guide was first published, most UK businesses were running on a combination of ADSL or FTTC broadband and a traditional PSTN phone line. That world is disappearing. Openreach's full switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and ISDN infrastructure is scheduled for the end of 2027, meaning any business still on a copper phone line will be forced to migrate before then.

This is not merely a technical detail — it changes how you buy phone and broadband together. The old model of a single monthly bundle covering both a broadband connection and a traditional phone line is being replaced by broadband-only connectivity combined with cloud-based VoIP telephony running over that connection.

Business Broadband in 2025: The Main Options

FTTC Broadband

FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) remains the most widely available broadband technology in the UK, covering the majority of business premises. It delivers speeds of up to 80Mbps download and 20Mbps upload. The copper final mile from the street cabinet to your building is the limiting factor — businesses close to a cabinet get near-advertised speeds; those further away get less.

FTTC is adequate for small offices with limited cloud use but struggles under the load of a growing team running video conferencing, Microsoft 365, and cloud backup simultaneously. Pricing typically runs from around £25 to £50 per month for business-grade FTTC.

FTTP Broadband (Full Fibre)

FTTP (fibre to the premises) runs fibre cable directly to your building, eliminating the copper section. This means more consistent speeds — a 300Mbps FTTP connection delivers close to 300Mbps regardless of how far you are from the cabinet. Availability has expanded substantially since 2020; CityFibre, Openreach, and regional providers now pass the majority of UK business premises in urban areas.

Business FTTP pricing starts from around £35 per month and goes up to £100+ per month for gigabit tiers. For most SMEs in coverage areas, FTTP is now the sensible default choice over FTTC.

Leased Lines

For businesses needing dedicated, uncontended bandwidth, a leased line is the appropriate solution. These run from £199 to £600+ per month depending on speed and location, with 100Mbps being the common entry point. Leased lines carry formal SLAs and are appropriate for businesses with 20+ users, hosted servers, or where an internet outage would cause significant operational damage.

Business Phone in 2025: Moving to VoIP

What Is VoIP?

VoIP (Voice over IP) is phone calling delivered over your internet connection rather than a copper telephone line. Calls are converted into data packets, transmitted over your broadband or leased line, and converted back at the other end. For the person on the call, it sounds identical to a traditional phone call — and often better, particularly on HD-audio VoIP systems.

Hosted PBX

A hosted PBX replaces your on-premises phone exchange with a cloud-based system. You keep your existing phone numbers, add or remove users without hardware changes, and access features — call recording, auto-attendant, queuing, call forwarding — through a web portal. Pricing typically runs from £8 to £20 per user per month.

Microsoft Teams Calling

For businesses already using Microsoft 365, Teams Calling is a natural extension. With the right licence and a SIP trunk or Microsoft Calling Plan, Teams becomes your business phone system. It integrates natively with your calendar, contacts, and collaboration tools without requiring a separate phone platform.

Bundling Phone and Broadband: Is It Still Worth It?

The old appeal of a phone and broadband bundle was simplicity — one supplier, one bill. That logic still holds in some cases: unified communications providers now bundle VoIP and broadband into a single monthly cost, which simplifies billing and gives a single point of contact for support.

However, bundling is not always the most cost-effective approach. A specialist broadband provider may offer better connectivity than a general telecoms operator offering a bundle, and a dedicated VoIP platform may offer more features than the telephony included in a bundle. Always compare the component parts against the bundle price before committing.

AMVIA helps SMEs evaluate both options — comparing standalone broadband and VoIP against unified bundles — to find the right combination of cost, features, and reliability for each business's specific situation.

The PSTN Switch-Off: What You Need to Do Now

If your business still has any of the following, action is required before the end of 2027:

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

The migration path is to move to a broadband-only connection (FTTP or leased line) and adopt VoIP telephony for all voice calls. Most businesses that have made this transition report lower monthly costs and improved call quality within the first three months.