Some might say that the humble home phone has had its day, as many of us now opt for the convenience of mobiles to keep in touch instead.
That said, most households still need a landline to receive broadband, which is why many internet bundles come with one as standard.
But which providers should you go for and which should you avoid?
While price is obviously a key concern, reliability and the quality of service you can expect to receive should also be front of mind.
Before we look into the latest customer complaint trends from Ofcom, it’s important to flag that these figures only reflect the complaints escalated by customers to the telecoms regulator when the provider has failed to resolve the issue.
So, while these figures may look low, the total number of complaints filed with each provider will likely be far higher.
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Worst landline providers UK
Ofcom's latest data looks at all complaints received between the three months between July and September 2023, so it won't cover any recent major faults or issues that customers might have endured.
The report revealed that Virgin Media generated the highest number of complaints by some distance.
Ofcom received 19 complaints per 100,000 Virgin customers, more than double the industry average (eight) and comfortably more than the next provider on the list, Now Broadband (11).
According to Ofcom, the main problems raised by Virgin's customers related to poor complaints handling (49%), pricing issues (22%) and service problems (13%).
Best landline providers UK
At the other end of the scale, Sky was the landline provider with the lowest number of complaints at two per 100,000 customers.
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EE was second with five complaints per 100,000, while Plusnet, Vodafone and BT all generated seven per 100,000.
These were the only firms to come in under the industry average.
See below for the complete complaints league table, according to Ofcom.
So, there you have it, your round-up of the worst (and best) landline firms.
If you'd like to find out which firms topped the broadband complaints list then head this way, while this article will highlight the worst Pay TV providers.
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