Royal Mail to Offer Home Phone Service

Sooler

Says here ...


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000102&sid=aUVq5TfaDs_U&refer=uk

U.K.'s Royal Mail to Offer Home Phone Service to Rival BT Group

Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Mail Group Plc, the U.K.'s state-owned postal operator, today started its own home telephone service, aimed at reducing the phone-market monopoly held by BT Group Plc, Britain's largest phone company.

...

Royal Mail's service will be on average 12 percent cheaper than BT's regular tariff and may offer savings of as much as 20 percent for some households, Mills said. Unlike BT, Royal Mail will bill its customers by the second and won't have a minimum call charge, he said.

Customers of Royal Mail's home-phone service will also receive a discount on some of the company's other products including insurance and flowers, he said.

PTLD

most savvy MSE's won't be swayed by these offers-hopefully.

far better deals out there -- see posts on this forum....

sergeant121

Customers of Royal Mail's home-phone service will also receive a discount on some of the company's other products including insurance and flowers, he said.

Insurance?

Flowers?

Telephone service?

Perhaps the continual thrust to diversify is the reason the basic (postal) service is such utter rubbish.

shrek101

Ironic that Royal Mail and BT were part of the same group 15 or so years ago, GPO.

Now we have two monoplies going to compete with the same service.

PTLD

Insurance?

Flowers?

Telephone service?

Perhaps the continual thrust to diversify is the reason the basic (postal) service is such utter rubbish.

problem PO have is that usage of postal services has dramatically reduced due to cheaper phone calls and enormous take-up of email services for advertising and commercial applications.

PO themselves issued this publicity information via email!

But, competition's always good [so they say!] so....

(MIND YOU -- FLOWERS HECK!!)

Sooler

HomePhone Tarriff
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content2?catId=7800127&mediaId=13600198
Line rental
£11.50 a month or £10.50 a month if you pay by Direct Debit

UK local and national calls
Daytime Evening Weekend
2.5p 1.25p 1p

Calling mobiles
Daytime Evening Weekend
13p 9p 5p


Says here ...
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/10/post_office_phone/
"Punters who switch to HomePhone will also only receive one bill for calls and line rental as the Post Office uses Wholesale Line Rental (WLR); this enables it to own the whole customer relationship, delivering a single bill for both calls and line rental."



How long before other telcos offer line rental - for less than £10.50?

mike_paterson

I wonder if they will lose as many calls as they do letters ?

mike_paterson

Or indeed if any call you place takes 7 or 8 days to get there !
;D

Sooler

... or if you're not in they'll transfer your call to your neighbour!

jpyett

This Wholesale Line Rental business sounds as if it could be a very good thing if other companies like TalkTalk give the option for it.

If they charge slightly less for it (unlike the Post Office) then this could really spell the end for BT. Maybe this is why companies like TalkTalk have been doing rediculous deals to encourage new customers as of late, with the knowledge that most of them will end up taking line rental from them as well.

James

Sooler

Why have the PO pitched their line rental the same as BT?, if the PO are serious about their phone service they've missed a trick.