The short answer
Yes, you can get internet without a phone line
You can absolutely get internet without a home phone line, and the honest truth is you have not needed one for years. On the National Broadband Network (the NBN), every connection is data-only by default: the industry calls it naked broadband, and it simply means there is no copper voice service bundled in, no landline number, and no line rental. This holds even on Fibre to the Node, where the last stretch still physically rides a copper pair, because that copper now carries internet data, not a phone service you must pay for first. The whole idea that internet "comes with" a phone line is a leftover from the ADSL era, when your broadband literally travelled down a rented Telstra voice line. That world is gone. So if you are still being charged line rental, or a retailer tells you a phone service is required to get connected, that is not a technical fact, it is a sign you are sitting on a legacy plan worth leaving.
Here is the core takeaway in one line: on the NBN there is no such thing as needing a phone line for internet, because every plan is naked broadband by default, and line rental is a relic of the ADSL era that should no longer be on anybody's bill. The confusion lingers for one reason only: for over a decade, Australian home internet really did travel down a rented copper voice line, so "internet plus a phone line" felt like one product. The technology moved on, the billing habit did not. If a phone charge is still on your plan, the fix is not technical, it is simply switching to a current data-only plan.
Reframe the assumption: the question is not "can I get internet without a phone line", it is "why am I still paying for one". The phone line is gone from the network; only the line on your invoice remains. Drop the legacy plan and the charge disappears, usually without touching the connection at your wall.
The blind spot
Why most "internet without a phone line" guides miss the point
Most articles on this topic answer a question that stopped being interesting years ago, and in doing so they leave the reader still confused and often still overpaying.
First, they treat it as a clever trick. They frame naked broadband as a special product you have to hunt for, as if going without a landline were the exception. On the NBN it is the rule. Presenting the default as a workaround keeps readers anxious about something that requires no effort at all.
Second, they quietly skip the only money question that matters. The useful thing is not whether you can avoid a phone line, it is whether you are still being charged for one. A guide that explains naked broadband without telling you to check your current bill for line rental has helped nobody decide anything.
Third, they confuse the copper with the phone service. People hear that Fibre to the Node still uses a copper pair and assume that means a phone line, and therefore line rental. It does not. The copper carries internet data now, not a voice service you rent. Conflating the wire with the bill is exactly the misunderstanding that lets a legacy charge survive unnoticed.
How the phone line went from mandatory to optional
Expert analysis: why line rental no longer makes sense
The ADSL era is where the phone line came from
To understand why this myth is so sticky, you have to see where it began. Under ADSL and ADSL2+, your broadband was delivered over the copper telephone line that ran to your home, the same physical pair that carried your voice calls. To use that line you first had to rent it, which is what line rental was: a charge for the underlying phone service that your internet then piggybacked on. You paid line rental whether or not you ever picked up the handset, because the broadband could not exist without the rented line beneath it. That was a genuine technical dependency, and it is the entire origin of the belief that internet "needs" a phone line.
Naked DSL was the first crack in the assumption
Late in the ADSL era, retailers began offering naked DSL: the same broadband, but with the voice service stripped off so you stopped paying line rental for a phone you did not want. It was sold as a slightly exotic product, which is where the word "naked" entered the Australian vocabulary. The important point is what it proved: the voice service and the data were always separable. The phone line had been bundled in by billing convention as much as by technology, and once a retailer chose to unbundle it, the line rental simply vanished with no loss of internet.
The NBN finished the job, and made naked the default
The NBN, built and run by the government-owned wholesaler NBN Co, is a data network. It does not sell a copper voice service the way the old Telstra network did. Whether your address is connected by Fibre to the Premises, HFC, Fibre to the Curb or Fibre to the Node, what NBN Co delivers your retailer is internet capacity, not a phone line. A home phone, if you want one, now runs as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) over that same connection, charged as an optional service rather than rented as a precondition. So on the NBN the question flips: naked broadband is not the special case, a bundled phone line is. As the old copper network is progressively switched off, the technical basis for line rental disappears entirely.
Why FTTN copper does not mean line rental
The one place people still get tripped up is Fibre to the Node, where fibre runs to a street cabinet and the final stretch to your home travels over the existing copper pair. It looks like the old setup, so the instinct is to assume a phone line and a rental charge come with it. They do not. That copper is now carrying NBN internet data, provisioned by your retailer as a data service. There is no separate voice line riding on it unless you specifically add VoIP. The wire is the same; what it carries, and how you are billed for it, is completely different. If you are on FTTN and still see line rental, that is a leftover from a previous plan, not a feature of the connection.
Interactive explainer
"Do I need a phone line?" checker
Pick your connection type and tell it whether you currently pay line rental. It confirms whether you need a phone line (you do not) and shows exactly what to do about any charge you are still carrying.
Check whether you need a phone line
Indicative guidance only. Always check your actual bill and plan terms before switching.
Your current bill
Verdict
Assumptions: every standard NBN plan is naked broadband with no line rental; a home phone, if wanted, runs as optional VoIP; FTTN copper carries internet data, not a rented voice line. Sources: NBN Co, ACCC, ACMA, 2026.
| Connection type | Phone line required? | How the line works | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADSL / ADSL2+ (legacy copper) | Yes, mandatory | Broadband was carried over the rented voice line, so you paid line rental even if you never made a call. | Largely retired as the copper network is switched off. |
| Naked DSL (late ADSL era) | No | A workaround that stripped the voice service off an ADSL line, so you paid for data only. | The first mainstream data-only home internet in Australia. |
| NBN FTTP / HFC / FTTC | No | Pure data connection; a phone, if you want one, runs as VoIP over the internet. | Naked by default. A landline is an optional add-on, never a requirement. |
| NBN FTTN / FTTB (copper last mile) | No | The line rides a copper pair, but it carries internet data, not a separate phone service. | Still naked: the copper does not mean you pay line rental. |
| Home wireless / 5G broadband | No | Runs over the mobile network with no fixed line at all. | No copper, no landline, nothing to rent. |
What this looks like in real homes
How the phone-line habit quietly costs Australians
The mechanics above are not academic. They are exactly how households end up paying, year after year, for a service the network stopped requiring:
The line rental nobody noticed
A household migrated from ADSL to the NBN years ago but kept the same retailer and the same bundle. The phone charge rode quietly across the switch, so they have been paying line rental on a connection that does not need it, for a handset that only ever rings with scam calls. Nothing on the network justified the fee; only the unchanged plan did.
The renter who thought FTTN meant a landline
A renter on Fibre to the Node assumed the copper running into the flat meant a phone line, and therefore line rental, was unavoidable. So they never questioned the bundled phone on their bill. The copper was only ever carrying their internet, and a naked plan on the same connection would have cost less.
The upgrade that was never offered
A long-standing customer stayed loyal for a decade and was never moved onto a current naked plan, because the retailer had no reason to prompt it. The legacy bundle simply rolled over each year. Loyalty quietly became the most expensive way to buy internet.
The household that switched and saved instantly
A family compared current naked NBN plans, moved off their old bundle, and dropped the home phone they never used. The physical connection at the wall did not change, no technician visited, and the line rental simply came off the bill. The fix was the plan, not the wiring.
The insider insight
The phone line is gone; only the billing habit lingers
Here is the part the industry has little reason to spell out. Line rental was never abolished with a fanfare; it just quietly stopped being technically necessary while plenty of old plans kept charging it. A retailer carrying a customer on a legacy bundle has no incentive to ring up and say "you could drop the phone and pay less". The charge survives not because the network demands it, but because nobody on either side has a reason to remove it. The phone line left the building years ago; the only thing still standing is the line on the invoice, and that is a habit, not a requirement.
The non-obvious truth: on the NBN you are never paying for a phone line because the connection needs one, you are paying because an old plan never updated. The households that get the best value treat any line rental or bundled phone charge as a flashing signal to switch, compare current naked NBN plans on speed and typical evening speed, and add VoIP only if they genuinely use a fixed phone. Because internet has no price cap, the gap between a lean naked plan and a stale bundle can be wide.
The practical consequence: do not ask whether you can drop the phone line. Assume you can, then check your bill to see whether you are still being charged as if you could not.
Grounded in the analysis
What you should actually do about the phone line
Specific moves that follow from how NBN billing really works, not generic advice.
Audit your bill for line rental
Open your current bill and look for a "line rental", "home phone" or bundled phone line item. If it is there and you do not use the phone, that single charge is the legacy you are paying for, and it has no technical justification on the NBN.
Compare current naked NBN plans
Use the checker above to confirm you need no phone line, then compare data-only plans on the speed tier and the typical evening speed, not on whether they include a landline. Naked is the default, so you are simply choosing a modern plan.
Add VoIP only if you truly use a phone
If you genuinely make calls from a fixed phone, add VoIP and, if you want, port your old number onto it. If you do not, drop the phone entirely and pocket the line rental. Either way, the phone is now a choice, not a cost you inherit.
Not sure which tier suits you? Read our guide to NBN plans, then check whether home wireless broadband is an option at your address.
Current figures, last updated 2026-06-16
Indicative Australian figures for 2026. Sources: NBN Co, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Plan terms and charges vary by retailer and by the connection technology at your address.
The bottom line
Why this matters more in 2026 than ever
Getting internet without a phone line is not a goal to chase; it is the default you already have on the NBN. Every plan is naked broadband, the network carries data rather than a rented voice service, and a phone is an optional VoIP extra you add only if you want it. The real question is the one most guides never ask: are you still being charged for a line that the technology retired years ago? As the old copper network is switched off, line rental loses its last shred of technical meaning, and with no price cap on internet to rein in stale plans, the cost of leaving a legacy bundle untouched only grows. The phone line is gone. Check whether the charge for it is too.
Common questions
A Selectra expert answers your phone-line questions
Yes, and on the NBN it is the default. Every standard NBN plan is naked broadband, meaning it is a data-only connection with no home phone line and no line rental attached. You do not opt out of the phone line; there simply is not one unless you deliberately add a VoIP service. This is true across all the common connection types: Fibre to the Premises, HFC, Fibre to the Curb, and even Fibre to the Node, where the last stretch runs over copper but carries internet data rather than a voice service. The only way you still end up paying for a landline is by being on an old plan that bundles one, which is exactly the kind of legacy deal worth switching away from.
Naked broadband is just internet sold on its own, with no home phone service bundled in. The name is a holdover from the ADSL years, when "naked DSL" was a special product that stripped the voice line off your broadband so you stopped paying line rental. On the NBN the term is almost redundant, because every plan is naked unless you add a phone. There is no speed penalty, no quality difference and no catch: a naked NBN plan is simply a normal NBN plan. If you see a provider charging extra to make a plan naked, or marketing naked broadband as a premium feature, treat it as a red flag.
Almost always because you are on a legacy plan that was set up in the ADSL or early NBN era and never updated. Line rental was a genuine charge when your internet travelled over a rented copper voice line, but that arrangement has been retired as the old copper network is switched off. If a separate line rental fee, a home phone charge, or a bundled phone service is still on your bill and you never use the phone, you are paying for a habit, not a requirement. Moving to a current naked NBN plan removes the charge entirely, usually with no change to the physical connection at your address.
No. The NBN is an internet network first, and the connection works with nothing plugged into a phone port. If you want a home phone, it runs as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), travelling over the same internet connection as a piece of data rather than as a separate service you rent. That means a phone is now an optional extra you choose to add, not a precondition for getting online. Many households drop the landline entirely and rely on mobiles, which is why the standard NBN plan ships without one.
Not necessarily. If you genuinely want to keep an existing home number, most providers let you port it onto a VoIP service so it rides over your internet connection instead of a copper line. The practical question is whether you actually use it. A great many Australians keep paying for a landline number they never call from, purely out of habit. If that is you, dropping it costs nothing but the line rental you were wasting; if you do use it, port it to VoIP and you keep the number without the legacy charge.
Usually, yes, because you are not paying for a service you may not use. A bundled phone line or line rental adds a fixed charge every month whether you make calls or not, so a naked plan at the same speed tier tends to land cheaper for a household that lives on mobiles. With no price cap on internet in Australia, the gap between a lean naked plan and an old bundled one can be wide. The smart move is to compare current naked NBN plans on the speed and the typical evening speed, then add VoIP only if you genuinely need a fixed phone.
