Why am I still having to pay for a phone line that I dont use?

deedee65_2

Why, in the 21st century am I still having to have a phone line just so I can have broadband? I think I used my land line twice last month and I'm paying £17 a month for the privalige. I only want my TV and Broadband; I'm with Virgin, who are ok & I dont pay for any extra channels, the basic package is fine (how many channels can you watch anyway when your at work all day?)
Where can I get just my TV and internet without having a home phone line? And why are the big companies being allowed to get away with charging extortionate line rental amounts anyway? They all advertise cheap monthly deals but then you have add another £17 a month just to have a phone line that you never use to amke calls with anyway, it's such a rip off and I'm fed up paying for it.
I just want a simple, cheaper way of getting my TV and broadband. :rotfl:

JJ_Egan

You are paying a fee for the cable/line and its equipment .You do not have to have this cable and fee to get broadband . Satellite or mobile dongle are two alternatives .

Personally i would like to see it separated into phone line rental and phone £18 .
Broadband incorporating line rental £36 .

Retrogamer

If no one charged line rental then the revenue lost would mean there would be no funds to repair or maintain the communications network so instead of paying say £17 a month line rental, £12 a month broadband witout the line rental charge they'd need to charge approx £29 a month for broadband only.

Virgin media do similar with their cable products.
If you want line rental on it's own it's (just for example) £17 a month
If you want broadband on it's own it's the same
If you want both together then it's only around £2-3 more.

cajef

deedee65 wrote: »

Why, in the 21st century am I still having to have a phone line just so I can have broadband?

Maybe because with the majority of ISP's you need a landline to get broadband just as you need one to receive phone calls via a landline.

macman

Your ISP fee pays for your broadband service, it doesn't pay for the provision and maintenance of the local loop, which is work done by BT OR. Because of BT's universal service obligation, line rental fees have to heavily subsidise the cost of provisioning services that no purely commercial enterprise could possible offer at an affordable price. For example, a new line provision to a remote property costs potentially thousands to do-yet BT can only charge the fixed rate of around £130.
And you are using your phone line, every time you use your broadband service. You are just using it as a data line, not a voice line.

[Deleted User]

macman wrote: »

Your ISP fee pays for your broadband service, it doesn't pay for the provision and maintenance of the local loop, which is work done by BT OR. Because of BT's universal service obligation, line rental fees have to heavily subsidise the cost of provisioning services that no purely commercial enterprise could possible offer at an affordable price. For example, a new line provision to a remote property costs potentially thousands to do-yet BT can only charge the fixed rate of around £130.

Whilst all true, almost none of that applies to the OP's provider. Virgin Media have their own network and do not use BT Openreach to maintain or provide service. Virgin also have no universal service obligation.

macman wrote: »

you are using your phone line, every time you use your broadband service. You are just using it as a data line, not a voice line.

Virgin do offer a broadband only service, but it's almost as expensive as a package of 'phone & BB!

Cycrow

If you dont want to pay for line rental, then you need to get your TV and broadband via another means (ie not using a cable)

This usually means wireless/over the air. For TV this would be via an aerial or satellite. For broadband, this can include over the mobile network, satellite, or in some places, via wifi

Cycrow

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

Whilst all true, almost none of that applies to the OP's provider. Virgin Media have their own network and do not use BT Openreach to maintain or provide service. Virgin also have no universal service obligation.


Virgin do offer a broadband only service, but it's no cheaper than a package of 'phone & BB.

All virgin services come via a cable, and they all include line rental as part of the price. If you get multiple services, then the line rental part is split between the services. Broadband only is slightly cheaper than broadband and phone, although not by much.

[Deleted User]

Cycrow wrote: »

Broadband only is slightly cheaper than broadband and phone, although not by much.

It's deliberately overpriced to encourage customers to take packages of two or three services. OP really wants TV and broadband (without phone), but this option is not cost effective since it costs almost as much as a triple-play package offering all three services.

If he opts for TV and BB alone he will be paying almost as much, but will have no 'phone service (I know he says he doesn't use it)

Cycrow

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

It's deliberately overpriced to encourage customers to take packages of two or three services. OP really wants TV and broadband (without phone), but this option is not cost effective since it costs almost as much as a triple-play package offering all three services.

If he opts for TV and BB alone he will be paying almost as much, but will have no 'phone service (I know he says he doesn't use it)

its not really deliberately overpriced. The cost of the phone service is next to nothing, once you have the line available. Most of the cost of a phone is the line rental, which is already covered by either the TV or broadband.

You have to pay for the rental of the line regardless of what service you get. But you only have to pay for it once, not for each service.

when you buy the services individually, part of the price goes towards the service, and part of it goes towards the line/cable

[Deleted User]

The line rental is for the service. It's like your car tax and insurance - you pay for them but it's up to you whether you drive the car every day or once a month... it costs the same. if I only drive 4000 miles a year I pay the same as someone who drives 40000 ... :mad: