You do not need a landline for broadband in Ireland if the product is full fibre (FTTH), Virgin cable, 5G home or satellite. The internet does not ride a PSTN pair there. Paying for a voice bundle is optional — skip it unless someone still calls the house number. The technology explainer is do I need a landline?; this page is the commercial ranking of plans that do not force a phone.
Every retailer we track scores landlineRequired: false on the headline plans. The catch is Open Eir FTTC: fibre to the cabinet, copper to the door — a phone line in the engineering sense even if you never take a voice package. Eir still sells a lot of it. Confirm FTTH vs FTTC on the order, not the word “fibre” in the ad.
Intros below are August 2026. Sky 500 Mb €27.99 → €50. Virgin 500/1 Gb €30 → €70/€72 — the textbook no-landline urban network. Pure 100 Mb €30 → €40. Vodafone 500/1 Gb €40 → €55. Eir 500 Mb €34.99 → €75.99 plus €4 each April from 2027. Advertised speeds, not lab Mbps.
Who actually needs a phone line
The landline question follows the network at the Eircode, not the brand on the bill. Sky, Vodafone, Pure and Digiweb sell other people’s fibre. Virgin and Starlink do not.
| Technology | Phone line needed? | What arrives at the house |
|---|---|---|
| Open Eir FTTH / SIRO / NBI | No | Glass to the premises. Voice, if you want it, is VoIP on the same router. |
| Virgin cable / Virgin fibre | No | Independent of the copper phone network. True no-landline broadband. |
| Open Eir FTTC | Often yes, in the old sense | Fibre to the cabinet, copper last stretch. May still be sold as “fibre”. |
| 5G home (Three, Imagine, Vodafone/Eir 5G) | No | Plug-in router. No Open Eir install. |
| Starlink | No | Dish and a clear sky. No copper pair. |
If the engineer is running fibre to the house, skip the landline. If the checker is vague and the speed cap looks like ~100 Mb, assume FTTC until it says FTTH, SIRO or NBI. Full split: FTTH vs FTTC vs cable and do I need a landline?.
Fibre and cable without a phone
Ranked fibre/cable first because a wired no-landline line is the long-term default. Virgin never needed the phone network. The Open Eir retailers do not need it on FTTH — they do on leftover FTTC.
| Retailer | Intro → thereafter | No-landline note |
|---|---|---|
| Sky | €27.99 → €50 (500 Mb) | No landline on full-fibre. Sold on Open Eir, SIRO, NBI. |
| Vodafone | €40 → €55 (500 Mb or 1 Gb) | Full-fibre plans do not require a landline. Take the gig if it is the same money. |
| Pure Telecom | €30 → €40 (100 Mb) | Fibre-only is available. The €35 500 Mb bundle includes phone — you do not have to take it. |
| Virgin Media | €30 → €70 / €72 (500 Mb / 1 Gb) | Own cable. Never a copper pair. Urban/suburban footprint only. |
| Digiweb | €37.95 → €50 (SIRO Gigabit) | NBI and SIRO FTTH. No landline. Rural fibre specialist. |
| Eir | €34.99 → €75.99 (500 Mb) | FTTH: no landline. FTTC: still copper to the door. Confirm which. |
Pure’s 500 Mb + phone at €35 → €45 is a voice bundle on fibre, not a requirement. Fibre-only 100 Mb is €30; Pure Fibre 500 (symmetrical) is €50 → €60. Pure Telecom review. Virgin is the cleanest “we do not own a phone line” story in a passed estate — Virgin Media review.
5G and satellite: no line, no engineer
Three is the default plug-in 5G home: promotional unlimited 5G at €25 for 24 months (thereafter €40), or €44.99 for 12 months (thereafter €50). No landline, no fibre engineer, take it to the next let. Advertised 500 Mb is a mast ceiling, not a wired guarantee. Three review.
Imagine 5G Home Basic is €40 rolling monthly (650 GB cap); Unlimited is €50; Fibre Starter 500 is €55 — thereafter equals intro on those three. Leave-anytime on 5G, freeze to December 2030 on selected plans. No phone line. Imagine review.
Starlink Residential 100 Mb is €35 rolling (thereafter the same €35). Dish, sky view, no copper. Last resort when fibre and 5G are a no, or while NBI is “coming”. Starlink review.
None of these replace NBI or SIRO once the engineer has been. They are how you stay online without waiting for a phone-line install that modern fibre does not need anyway. Rural order: best rural broadband.
Keeping a number, 999, and power cuts
Dropping the copper pair is not the same as dropping the ability to make a call.
- Keep the old number as VoIP if people still dial it. Porting rules still apply. It is a convenience product on the broadband account, not a requirement for the internet to work.
- 999: use a charged mobile. Old copper PSTN phones could sometimes work in a power cut because the exchange fed the line. Fibre ONTs, cable modems, 5G hubs and Starlink all need mains (or a battery pack). A landline add-on on fibre is usually VoIP — it dies when the router does.
- Do not keep a monthly phone “for 999” if you have a mobile. Buy a UPS for the ONT if blackouts are the real fear.
Cooling-off exists for this. If you ordered 500 Mb FTTH and the engineer hangs copper, the 14-day distance-selling window is how you unwind. After that you are in the term. More: do I need a landline? and early termination fees.
How we ranked no-landline broadband
This ranking includes every retailer with landlineRequired === false in the August 2026 dataset — currently all of them on headline plans. Order is fibre/cable first (the long-term no-phone product), then 5G, wireless and satellite, then overall score. Eir still sits with fibre because FTTH does not need a line; the FTTC caveat is in the copy, not a fake “landline required” flag.
- Intro vs thereafter. No-landline is not a discount. Sky €27.99 → €50, Virgin €30 → €70/€72, Pure €30 → €40, Vodafone €40 → €55, Eir €34.99 → €75.99.
- Technology at the door. FTTH / cable / 5G / satellite skip the phone. FTTC often does not, even when the retailer is flagged no-landline on FTTH.
- Advertised speed, not lab Mbps. SPEED on the cards is the advertised download on the cheapest tariff.
- Availability. Virgin is a closed footprint. NBI is rural glass. 5G follows the mast. Check by Eircode.
Affiliate links never change the order. Related: best fibre, best broadband deals, how to switch.
