'Outdated' landline charges should be scrapped

Terry98

About time someone did something about this...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35869222

JJ_Egan

Well yes but they will only move to each package .

iniltous

Say you pay £5 for broadband and £18 line rental per month , and they have to offer 'naked' broadband without 'line rental', you would have to be very naive to think naked broadband will cost £5, it will almost certainly cost £23

Ian011

You will always have to pay for the physical line otherwise there is nothing to deliver the broadband signal over.

What people want is a line which cannot be used for calls and which has no calls element within the monthly price. Currently, BT's most basic deal combines line rental and inclusive weekend calls to 01, 02, 03, 0845 and 0870 numbers. People want and will expect a lower price if the calls element is removed.

The cost for broadband will go on top of this lower reduced line rental.

jd87

Obviously the cost of broadband packages will go up, but at at least it will make it easier to compare packages.

At the moment it is common to see what looks like a cheaper deal, only to realise the line rental is more expensive. Add in the complication of "line rental saver" payment up front deals and it gets really confusing.

C_Mababejive

I disagree,this man is talking ill informed drivel.

The local loop is an asset. The asset belongs to someone. It has to be maintained. It is also used for the carriage of data. Take it away and nothing works.

Nothing is for free..

If i go to the carphone warehouse and get myself an iphone 6. Can i just not use it for calls and then flick the finger at vodafone and say, well i havent used it for calls only data ,so can i not be charged please?

Other retailers and network providers are available..

HappyMJ

I think everyone should be able to have BT Basic if they want which costs £15.30 every 3 months and the broadband add-on is only £14.55 every 3 months for a total bill of £9.95 per month.

Why should only people that are on income based benefits be entitled to it?

boliston

I'm not sure why some isp's charge £18 per month for line rental but others only charge £10 - I guess they try and justify it with "free" calls included but £8 would buy a lot of calls and some people only use mobiles for calls (myself included)

Terry98

BT has increased its line rental charges by 39pc in the last six years and most of the other suppliers have followed.

What is the justification for this and how have they got away with it when inflation is negligible?

It is now used as a marketing tool to confuse us. I can get a great price for broadband and think I have got a good deal. Good deals are easy to offer if you can hide behind rental charges that most people have to pay for anyway.

Yes, other prices will go up if you do away with rental charges but at least they will be more transparent.

onomatopoeia99

HappyMJ wrote: »

I think everyone should be able to have BT Basic if they want which costs £15.30 every 3 months and the broadband add-on is only £14.55 every 3 months for a total bill of £9.95 per month.

Why should only people that are on income based benefits be entitled to it?

That service is subsidised by BT, at least the line rental part of it is as it's way under the wholesale line rental cost.

C_Mababejive

Terry98 wrote: »

BT has increased its line rental charges by 39pc in the last six years and most of the other suppliers have followed.

What is the justification for this and how have they got away with it when inflation is negligible?

It is now used as a marketing tool to confuse us. I can get a great price for broadband and think I have got a good deal. Good deals are easy to offer if you can hide behind rental charges that most people have to pay for anyway.

Yes, other prices will go up if you do away with rental charges but at least they will be more transparent.

Well to be fair, BT arent the only ones flaying the backs off the public in a low inflation environment.

Ive just my annual pool tax bill and it has increased by 3.5%. No one asked me if i was ok with it and could i manage it.

Now the media does like to pounce on ex nationalised industries. A lot of it can be excused by lazy ill informed journalism.

Just as they pounce on British Gas when talking about energy prices, they also pounce on BT when talking about telecoms prices.

But they dont mention that local loop unbundling was introduced a long time ago and the local loop can now be rented off anyone!

As an example, when i first moved into my present home, the local loop was owned by BT. There was no other option.

In that time several other people have taken up management of it and it is now currently managed by SKY.


The fact still remains that it is an asset. My bit of wire stretches a couple of kilometres from home to exchange.

If i swap providers, someone has to pay someone to go get my twiddly bits of wires at the exchange, take them out of skys rack and shove them somewhere else.

If my bit of wire needs maintenance,renewal etc,,who will pay for it?

Its a bit like saying,, oh well we want gas to our homes but we dont want the pipe that conveys it. Why should we pay for that ?