MSE News: Clampdown on 'misleading' broadband ads as new rules come into force

MSE_Luke

Telecoms firms can no longer separate the cost of broadband and line rental from today...

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'Clampdown on 'misleading' broadband ads as new rules come into force'

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Brand

Won't the new aggregate broadband pricing mean an excuse to raise prices, so now you pay £20 plusnet or £25 BT per month, say, instead of, taking the example of plusnet, around £16 or £18

Also Before the consolidation of the two elements, it was easy to calculate the line rental, e.g. LRS/12 or LRS/18 then add the cheap monthly £ amount.
Now it it just means you have to do a much more difficult calculation to disentangle the line and the broadband.

teddysmum

DavidP24 wrote: »

I think it is more transparent, so often I see sheeet coming through the door where they put some headline price and then in tiny letters "line rental £18"

What I predict is that you will get no call allowance and be charged for other extras, voicemail, caller ID and so on.

However, some companies will compete and show all these things as inclusive, I have seen all these prices increase by 50% over the last few years (e.g. anytime calls went up from £5 to £8).

I do not use landline, I do not even have a phone connected to it. I have VoIP and my mobile which has Whatsapp, Skype and other options, all free.

The Anytime increase is not as much as it looks as it now includes calls to mobiles, which suit us very well.


I don't know of any providers who do inclusive calls with line. All I've checked require a calls package.


The inclusive package, which will limit separate negotiations on line and broadband, is possibly the result of providers seeing a way to make money by heeding the whiners who moaned about having to pay for a line they don't use (thus showing their ignorance that broadband does not get to your home by magic but needs a line).


Theoretical case :


Before broadband free line £17.99
Now broadband and line £19.99.


You need the line so are now paying more for the same service. Is it worth paying £2 more because you didn't want to read the small print, that everyone knows about anyway ?

teddysmum

People raved about not needing a line for broadband(they still believe in magic), so now have their wish come true...at a price to all of us.

molerat

Another knee jerk by one of the OFs clamping down on something that was only a problem to those who were looking for something to complain about. Why don't they clamp down on the misalignment of broadband and line rental contract lengths.

minislim

yet another step in the right direction.

maybe one day ofcom will finally stop the monopoly that is wholesale BT line rental and scrap it.

after all the only reason we are all paying over the odds if to foot the bill for BT's pursuit of paying over the odd for television rights!

Cornucopia

It's disappointing to find that the new Vodafone "no line rental" ad is not only very annoying and potentially misleading/distorting, but also produced to comply with regulations that have only just been made. (And would appear to be broken already).

teddysmum

minislim wrote: »

yet another step in the right direction.

maybe one day ofcom will finally stop the monopoly that is wholesale BT line rental and scrap it.

after all the only reason we are all paying over the odds if to foot the bill for BT's pursuit of paying over the odd for television rights!

The lines are owned by Openreach a[URL="file://\\nd"]nd[/URL] parts of the system are let out to various providers. If you say that Openreach can't rent out its system how are the providers going to get the service to customers ?They could not possibly afford to set up their own system nationally, so you'd have local networks with a monopoly on prices.

Brand

I don't find the old system confusing. Will each provider now have to provide a without-LRS price, a with-LRS price for each length of LRS, and a list of prices for each scenario of lnumber of years imagining you move to non-LRS at the end of expiry?
It'll be a nightmare for the call-centre staff who have to explain all this over the phone.

molerat

minislim wrote: »

yet another step in the right direction.

maybe one day ofcom will finally stop the monopoly that is wholesale BT line rental and scrap it.

after all the only reason we are all paying over the odds if to foot the bill for BT's pursuit of paying over the odd for television rights!

I am sure Openreach would love someone to compete with them and install their own infrastructure. I doubt any of the providers will as they are making a tidy sum from their customers on top of what they are actually charged for line access. The new digital infrastructure was put out to tender but no one else bothered to bid.

teddysmum

I aren't very happy with my speed with Plusnet, having left Sky, so had a look on the website.


For ADSL and line they are now charging £20.49 (12month minimum) or £20 (18 month minimum), so are they going back to the 12/18 month mess-up or is line rental for 18 months? ( no details on site). I don't recall what the non-saver rate for line was , but assuming £17.99, the new 'all in' price has shot up by at least £2.50 as the broadband was free for the first year and there is also no direct cashback offer.


Sky's offer has also shot up to an inclusive £22.40, though newbies get a £50 M&S voucher (worth less than £50 as M&S are expensive) . Before line rental with free broadband was just £17.40 (though would probably have become £18.40 after the annual £1 hike).


We have already mention TalkTalk's large rises, so it looks as though this stupid legislation is costing us dear, as it's been used as an excuse to increase prices more than usual.


At least the 'Why should I pay for a line I don't need?' idiots and those incapable of adding line rental and broadband costs together have their way and should be jumping for joy.