A Broadband Question

former_student

I have a phone line supplied by BT and I use them for my broadband provider and phone calls, my total bill for this quarter worked out as follows:

BT Together option £30.63
Broadband Services £48.48
VAT 16.67
Equipment Rental £3.25
Cost of Calls 13.22

I really only use the phone line for broadband and the total bill for calls only came to £13.22, and I simply want to switch to a more cost effective service.
I checked out the links on the MSE pages relating to broadband and I came across the following package, would it be a cheaper option for me? Thanks in advance.

Broadband and phone combined. The Carphone Warehouse's TalkTalk option 3* package includes broadband. Overall you pay £21 a month for line rental, free UK calls, some free international calls and up to 8Mbps broadband with a 40GB download limit. For many people this is an unbeatable package, it's explained in much more detail, with full pros and cons, in the UK's Cheapest Home Phones article, so do read back then return here if it's not for you.

JohalaReewi

Equipment rental??

TOBRUK

JohalaReewi wrote: »

Equipment rental??

I think I am right and seem to remember that if you had a BT phone you paid rental for it, years ago that's how it was. I would give it back to them if that's the case!

JohalaReewi

If you just want broadband and cheap phone calls, check out Primus Broadband with the Primus Saver Option 2 plan.

Discussed here...
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=184392

All the recent info is at the end of the thread. You still pay BT line rental (make sure you are on the basic Option 1) but all broadband and phone calls are billed by Primus. AFAIK the package is £17.99 a month (up to 8M broadband) and the Primus Saver Option 2 plan information is on their website...

http://www.planet-talk.co.uk/SaverProducts.aspx?source=saver

former_student

Thanks for that feedback. With regards to BT line rental how much will this cost per month/quarter provided I use Primus saver for everything else?

JohalaReewi

BT option 1 is £10.75 a month (inc VAT) if you pay by direct debit and choose paperless billing. See BT website...

http://www2.bt.com/static/i/btretail/consumer/home/home_phone/bt_together.html

So the total monthly cost would be around £28.74 plus cost of calls. So a little bit more than the TalkTalk package? Primus used to have a rebate scheme which brought down the monthly cost if you stayed with them for a year but I think this is no longer available for new customers.

JohalaReewi

TOBRUK wrote: »

I think I am right and seem to remember that if you had a BT phone you paid rental for it, years ago that's how it was. I would give it back to them if that's the case!

You certainly did pay rental for equipment from BT (including extension sockets) and it was compulsory but these days, there is no need to rent any equipment from BT. If the OP phones BT to cancel the rental, BT may even let them keep the equiment instead of asking for it back.

Check this thread...
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=401774

former_student

I have phoned BT and told them I no longer wish to rent the phone from them, they are sending me out a return package so I can send it off to them, there is a similar phone in the attic which can take the place of BT's phone.

Albertross you have mentioned '£15 BB&talk package', which company is that deal with.

One thing that may stand against me is that I have a contract with BT broadband for 18 months of which I am only 12-13 months through, will they allow me to cancel it?

DonnyDave

former_student wrote: »

One thing that may stand against me is that I have a contract with BT broadband for 18 months of which I am only 12-13 months through, will they allow me to cancel it?

Only if you pay for the remaining term. Probably best to stick with it for the next 6-7 months and then weigh up your options.

MoneyMiser

What about Direct Save Telecom?

For £26.90 a month you can get 8Mb speeds with Unlimited* Monthly Usage. Anytime free calls with reduced rates on mobile and international calls. This also includes your line rental.

£40 set-up fee but your not tied into a 12 month contract with them as it is a 1 month rolling contract.

This any good?

former_student

Hi MoneyMiser. I have been strongly advised by many to keep BT as my phoneline provider and to simply rent the line of them for £10.75 per month.

If I were to go for Primus Saver Option 2 plan, and used BT to rent the line from. If I only made calls to UK landlines after 6 Monday- Fri and all day Saturday and Sunday and used broadband fairly regulary would my quartly bill in total be £86.22?

Thanks again.