What Virgin Media's Digital Voice switchover is
Virgin Media is moving its home phone customers off its old copper telephone network and onto its fibre broadband network. Instead of travelling over a copper phone line, your calls are carried over Virgin's broadband network, and your phone plugs straight into your Virgin Hub (the router) rather than into the phone socket on the wall. Virgin calls this service digital voice.
Virgin describes it as part of a nationwide upgrade on all networks, from all providers. It says making a call feels the same, and calls may sound clearer.
What makes Virgin different is that it runs its own network. Hundreds of other providers sell phone and broadband over Openreach's lines, but Virgin's broadband travels over its own fibre and coaxial (coax) cables, not a traditional copper telephone line. So Virgin sets its own timetable, and Openreach dates don't automatically apply to you. Our guide to how Virgin Media's network differs from Openreach explains the two networks in more detail, and our guide to the digital landline switchover covers the national picture across every provider.
When will Virgin Media switch your landline?
Virgin's help pages say it aims to move everyone "in the next 18 months" and will contact you within that time. Read that with care: Virgin has used the same sentence since at least July 2025, when it appeared in its article on the landline switch-off, and its help pages still give no end date (checked October 2026). So don't count 18 months from today, and don't assume you have until 2028. Treat it as an aim, not a deadline, and watch for your own letter or email.
Two dates you may have read about do not set Virgin's timetable:
- 31 January 2027. The government's connectivity timeline (updated 29 July 2026) sets this for users of the Openreach PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network, the old analogue phone network). It gives no date for Virgin Media O2's landline network.
- No Ofcom date either. Ofcom's landline page (updated 26 August 2026) says Virgin Media O2 plans to retire its old landline network but dates have not been set.
Virgin Media O2 is a signatory of the government's PSTN Charter for phone providers (updated 22 January 2026), which commits it not to carry out non-voluntary migrations (broadly, moving customers who haven't engaged and whose telecare would need action to keep working) until it has full confidence it is taking all possible steps to protect vulnerable people, and not to move any telecare user until a compatible, working telecare set-up is confirmed. That is a safeguard for telecare users, not a general right to stay on the old line: for most households, ignoring the letter still means the old socket stops working, as covered below.
Your letter, the adaptor and the switchover date
Virgin tells customers individually, by letter or email, when it's their turn.
If you've had a letter or email
Virgin says the letter or email contains specific instructions and asks you to keep it safe. It will most likely do one of two things:
- Give you a switchover date and send you an adaptor. On that date you use the adaptor to plug your landline phone into your WiFi Hub. Virgin sends the adaptor with step-by-step instructions.
- Ask you to book an engineer visit, where the switch needs someone to come out.
Check the date, whether an adaptor is included, and how to tell Virgin about anything that makes the switch harder for you. Citizens Advice says a provider should tell you about the switchover in at least two different ways and give you your switch date and a way to contact them, and that you can nominate a friend or family member to deal with the switch for you.
Virgin's contact numbers for the switchover are 150 from a Virgin Media home phone or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone; you can also use Relay UK or a Video Relay Service.
If you haven't heard anything yet
Look at where your phone is plugged in. Virgin says that if your landline is already connected to your WiFi Hub, you're already on the new network and there's nothing to do. If it's still plugged into the traditional phone socket on the wall, Virgin says it is switching people over gradually, will give you plenty of notice and will send reminders and more details nearer the time. It doesn't say how many weeks' notice, so watch your post and email.
Never pay to switch
Citizens Advice is clear: if anyone tells you that you need to pay to switch your phone line, it's a scam. Your home phone provider will never ask you to pay to move to a digital phone line, and Virgin says the switch itself costs nothing. If someone asks for money or bank details to "upgrade" your landline, hang up. Our guide to broadband scam calls, texts and emails covers the common tricks.
What to do on your switchover date
Virgin sends step-by-step instructions with the adaptor; in outline:
- Find the adaptor and the instructions that came with it.
- On your switchover date, use the adaptor to plug your phone into the Hub rather than the wall socket. Virgin says that after the date the old socket, and anything still connected to it, stops working.
- Move anything else that used the socket. Virgin says a call-blocking device should be unplugged from the phone socket and plugged into the Hub using the adaptor.
Our own tip, not a Virgin instruction: once everything is plugged in, make a test call in and out, so you know the phone works before you need it.
A few set-ups need more than an adaptor:
- An older Hub. If you have a Super Hub 1, Super Hub 2 or Super Hub 2ac, Virgin needs to replace it with a newer Hub so you can make calls over the fibre network. Virgin says this costs nothing extra; you can install it yourself or have an engineer help if you need it.
- Hub and phone in different rooms. Tell Virgin and it will arrange for an engineer to move them closer together, for free.
- Cordless phones. If one base station controls several handsets, only the base needs connecting to the Hub. If your cordless phones use different base stations wired back to the phone socket, Virgin says you'll need an engineer appointment.
- Extensions and other equipment. Our guide to which phones and equipment work on a digital landline covers extension sockets, answerphones and more.
The phone now depends on the Hub: Virgin says your home phone won't work if the Hub is switched off, though it will still work if you put the Hub into modem-only mode. Rebooting or resetting the Hub while you're on a call ends the call, so avoid doing that mid-conversation.
What stays the same and what changes
Virgin's help pages answer the common worries directly (checked October 2026):
Question | What Virgin says |
|---|---|
Will it cost more? | No. Virgin says there's no extra charge: the new line is priced the same as the home phone service it replaces. |
Does my contract change? | No. Virgin says its terms cover both services, so you stay on exactly the same contract. |
Will my number change? | No, it stays the same. Virgin says a few customers might need to change their number or services, that this is very rare, and that it will tell you if it applies. |
Do I need a new handset? | No, you can keep using the same handset. |
What about calling features? | From 24 hours after the switch (or the following Monday if you switch on a Friday), Call Divert (only if your line doesn't have voicemail), Reminder Call, Call Waiting, Anonymous Caller Rejection, Three-way Calling and Quick Dial are available at no extra cost. |
Will my settings carry over? | No. Existing feature settings reset when you switch, so you set them up again by calling 150 from your Virgin home phone or 0345 454 1111. If you paid for any of these features, that charge is removed. |
Is anything withdrawn? | Yes: Ring Back When Free will no longer be available. |
Text relay users: Virgin says next-generation text relay on a device with its own SIM isn't affected; if you use an older system, contact Virgin about moving to next-generation text relay or the Relay UK app.
Power cuts, telecare and alarms
Virgin says digital voice runs over its broadband network and has no back-up power of its own. In a power cut, or if there's disruption on the fibre network, you can't make or receive home phone calls, and that includes calls from telecare or lifeline devices connected to the line. After a power cut or outage, the Hub can take a few minutes to reconnect.
Ofcom says that if you depend on your landline and have no working mobile or reliable mobile signal, your provider must offer you a free back-up solution, such as a battery back-up unit that lasts at least an hour. Virgin's own answer to that duty is the emergency backup line below; for battery units, mobiles and other ways round a power cut on any provider, see digital landlines and power cuts.
Virgin's emergency backup line
Virgin says it will give an emergency backup line to people who rely on a landline or don't have a mobile, so they can call the emergency services, friends or family, and calls on it are free. Its July 2025 article on the landline switch-off also mentioned living in an area with poor mobile signal. Here's how Virgin's help page describes the device (checked October 2026):
- It's a phone that plugs into your WiFi Hub. It can be your main landline, or it can connect to the Hub through your home's extension wiring.
- In a power cut or network outage it automatically connects to the mobile network.
- If you're eligible, an engineer installs it. Keep it plugged into the mains so its battery stays charged.
- Its battery lasts around 8 hours on standby and gives one hour of talk time when it's disconnected from the mains.
- During an outage it can call 999 or 112, freephone numbers, UK numbers starting 01, 02 and 03, and UK mobiles starting 07 (not Jersey, Guernsey or Isle of Man numbers). These calls are free if dialled directly, but they depend on your location and O2 network coverage, and a fair use policy applies.
To ask for one, call 150 from a Virgin home phone, 0345 454 1111 from any other phone, or use Relay UK or a Video Relay Service. If you already have an older V1 emergency backup line, Virgin says it will upgrade it to the latest version for free.
Because Virgin says the backup calls depend on O2's network where you are, tell Virgin if O2 signal is poor at your home and ask what it can offer instead. And if cost matters, ask Virgin to confirm whether the device itself is free for you; Ofcom's rule above says a back-up must be free for people who depend on their landline and have no working mobile or reliable signal.
Telecare, alarms and who to tell
Virgin asks you to contact it before the switch if you, or anyone in your household:
- has telecare devices, such as a personal alarm pendant;
- has accessibility needs;
- is over 75;
- has no mobile phone to use in an emergency;
- can't keep the home phone close to the Hub;
- has wired telephone extensions;
- uses text relay on the landline.
Virgin says it will then support you through the switch, or carry it out differently at a later date.
If you have a healthcare alarm, telecare device, security alarm or burglar alarm, Virgin says you must check with the company that provides it whether it works with digital voice and keeps working in a power cut. Virgin recommends devices with their own battery and a separate network connection, such as a built-in SIM. Citizens Advice says you shouldn't be switched until your telecare and phone providers are confident your alarm will work. When you ring your alarm company, the questions to ask are in telecare alarms and the digital switch; when you ring Virgin, ask for your needs to be noted on the account, which getting extra support from your provider explains.
Virgin's handling of telecare customers in earlier migrations led to an Ofcom fine in December 2025; our guide to the Ofcom rules broadband providers must follow explains the rules that sit behind that kind of decision.
If your broadband comes from another provider
Some Virgin home phone customers get their broadband elsewhere. Virgin's switchover help says it will give you a Hub that supports only your home phone line and won't interfere with your existing broadband. We cover what that phone-only route means for cost, your number and power cuts in keeping a landline without broadband, alongside BT's phone-only service, so here are just the practical points for a two-provider home:
- Two boxes, two plugs. Your current provider's router carries the internet and the Virgin Hub carries the phone. The Virgin Hub needs mains power and must stay switched on, because Virgin says the phone won't work with the Hub off.
- Where it goes. The phone plugs into the Hub, so decide where the Hub sits before your date. If it can't be near where you use the phone, Virgin says to tell it, and it will arrange an engineer to move them closer together, for free.
- Don't confuse them. Label the Virgin Hub so nobody unplugs it thinking it's a spare router.
It's also a sensible moment to ask whether paying two companies still makes sense. Our broadband and phone deals page compares packages that include a home phone. If you're planning a move, check before assuming a Virgin landline can come too: Virgin's home phone page says the service isn't offered in its new network expansion areas.
If you don't want to switch: your options
You can't keep Virgin's old copper landline once your switchover date has passed: if you do nothing after receiving your adaptor and date, the wall socket and anything connected to it stops working. Virgin's help page sets out what you can do instead (checked October 2026):
Option | What Virgin says | Worth checking first |
|---|---|---|
Switch as planned | Recommended by Virgin, at no cost, because all landline providers are due to move to digital voice in the coming years. | Alarms, extensions and power-cut needs. |
Cancel your landline but keep other Virgin services | You can cancel your landline services, but this might increase the cost of your bundle. | The new monthly price, in writing. |
Leave Virgin Media altogether | You can disconnect all your Virgin services, and Virgin says it will waive any applicable early disconnection fee if you do. | Ask Virgin to confirm in writing that the fee is waived, and check what kit you need to return. |
Don't expect to escape the change by moving provider. Everyone on Openreach's old analogue phone network (PSTN) has to be moved to a new service by 31 January 2027, so a landline from an Openreach-based provider will be a digital service too. Usually that means plugging the phone into a router, though some providers have phone-only options, as our guide to keeping a landline without broadband explains. Other providers are running their own programmes: our guides to Sky's digital phone upgrade letter and Plusnet's home phone moving to EE explain how two of them are handling it.
Dropping the landline
If you rarely use your home phone, cancelling it may be simpler than switching. Virgin's broadband doesn't need a phone line, so you can keep Virgin broadband without a landline. Before you cancel, think about who calls you on that number, whether any device dials out over it, and whether everyone at home has a mobile with a reliable signal. Ask Virgin what happens to your number if you cancel. Our broadband-only deals page shows packages with no home phone.
Leaving Virgin Media
Leaving works the same way as any other switch, even though Virgin has its own network: under One Touch Switch the new provider handles it, and it's Virgin, as the provider you're leaving, that has to send you switching information, including any early termination charges. That document is where the fee waiver should show up. If it lists a charge, take it up with Virgin before the switch goes through, quoting the waiver on its switchover help page. Our guide to cancelling Virgin Media broadband covers returning equipment and final bills.
To see what else is available, compare broadband deals at your postcode. You can also see what Virgin itself currently offers on our Virgin Media broadband deals page, or browse the broadband providers we cover. We don't switch you ourselves; the comparison is run by our partner.
If something goes wrong after the switch
If your phone stops working, start with Virgin's landline troubleshooting page, which has separate steps depending on whether your phone is plugged into the Hub or the wall socket. Virgin suggests checking service status in My Virgin Media, making sure handsets are connected, charged and powered, and trying another phone in the Hub. A Hub reboot can take 5 to 10 minutes and is finished when the white power light stays solid. You can also run tests on your kit and book an engineer. Our guide to what to do when your home phone isn't working has more general checks.
If you're unhappy with how the switch was handled, complain to Virgin first. Virgin's alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme, the independent body that can rule on unresolved complaints, is CISAS. Virgin's complaints page still talked about an eight-week wait when we checked in October 2026, but that's out of date for newer complaints. Since 8 April 2026, Ofcom's rules let you go to CISAS once six weeks have passed since you first complained, if the complaint started on or after that date; older complaints keep eight weeks, and a deadlock letter (Virgin saying it can't do more) lets you go at once. Keep a note of the date you first complained so you can count the weeks. Our guide to complaining about your broadband provider walks through the process.
Virgin Media Digital Voice FAQs
When will Virgin Media switch my landline to Digital Voice?
Virgin's help pages say it aims to move everyone "in the next 18 months" and will contact you by letter or email with your switch details. It has used that wording since at least July 2025 and gives no end date (checked October 2026), so watch for your letter rather than counting from today. If your phone already plugs into your Hub, you've switched.
Does the 31 January 2027 switch-off date apply to Virgin Media?
No. The government's timeline sets 31 January 2027 for users of the Openreach phone network, which hundreds of other providers use. Virgin Media runs its own network, and Ofcom says Virgin Media O2 plans to retire its old landline network but dates have not been set. Your switch date comes from Virgin's own letter or email.
What happens if I ignore Virgin Media's adaptor and switchover date?
Virgin says that if you do nothing after receiving your adaptor and switchover date, your old landline wall socket and anything connected to it will stop working. If the switch is difficult for you, for example because of telecare, an alarm or no mobile phone, contact Virgin on 150 or 0345 454 1111 before the date rather than leaving it.
Does Virgin Media Digital Voice cost more or change my contract?
No. Virgin says the fibre phone line costs the same as your current home phone service, with nothing extra to pay, and that you stay on exactly the same contract because its terms cover both services. The switch itself is free.
Will my Virgin Media home phone work in a power cut?
Not on its own. Digital voice runs through your Hub, so in a power cut or network outage you can't make or receive home phone calls. If you rely on a landline or don't have a mobile, Virgin says it will give you an emergency backup line that switches to the mobile network during an outage, with free calls, around 8 hours of standby battery and one hour of talk time.
Can I leave Virgin Media without an early disconnection fee if I don't want Digital Voice?
Virgin's help page says that if you don't want to switch you can disconnect all your Virgin services and it will waive any applicable early disconnection fee. Get that confirmed in writing, and if you move with One Touch Switch, check the switching information Virgin sends you reflects it. A landline from an Openreach-based provider will be a digital service too.
Do I have to pay anything to switch to Virgin Media Digital Voice?
No. Virgin says the switch costs nothing, and older Super Hub 1, 2 and 2ac routers are replaced at no extra cost. Citizens Advice warns that anyone telling you to pay to switch your phone line is a scammer: don't share bank details, and call Virgin on a number you know.
