Can I disconnect my landline?

I would have thought not, anything upstream and including the NTE5 box ('BT Box'?) is the property of BT/OpenReach and they don't like people fiddling with it.

I would expect that they would remove it if you ask. I had FTTP installed recently and my understanding was that they would remove it at that time if you asked - I chose not to.

It is fine if you want to remove internal cables *downstream* from the NTE5. They are your responsibility/property

Ah, right. Thanks for the warning.

They leave the box in case you want to use it to to backfeed your internal network, so I am sure you can remove it. If the cables arrive via a drop wire OpenReach will remove the cable,

Dave.

Thanks.

On 05 Mar 2026, BertCoules wrote

When we switched to full fibre, the installer confirmed that the internal and external BT boxes, along with the drop cable pinned to the house, were all redundant kit, and that I was free to remove and dispose of them.

Interesting how people's experience vary. Thanks.

Still tricky to find the link....

Try this one -

I would doubt OE would raise any objection to your removing it.

Of course they won't, they honestly won't give a monkeys

I vaguely wondered if cutting the wiring could somehow be registered back at wherever such connections originate, even though the line was dead.

If the line is dead, it will have been disconnected somewhere between your property and the exchange, so they will no longer be able to detect anything in your house. Why would they want to, anyway?

Whatever your understanding of the rules, just rip it out - there'll be no comeback.

this.

TL; DR ;-)

Many thanks to everyone who chipped in with thoughts and suggestions. The majority opinion is that the wires can safely be cut, so cut they shall be.

I'm obsessive, there is little likelihood of the wire ever being connected to

Not if it is dead.

If it is still carrying 70VDC, probably

But if they did notice, it would only be if the wire was shorted, and the automatic systems would detect this as an off-hook error which warrants no manual intervention, just automatic disconnection after a delay and after a few audio signals down the line.

Thanks.

Presumably you mean the two wires which connected to the socket: I can do that, certainly. Thanks for the thought.