MSE News: BT to cut landline costs for up to one million customers...

Ian011

BT currently offers a number of landline-only deals.

Line rental is around £18.99 per month and comes with inclusive weekend calls to numbers starting 01, 02 and 03. For an extra couple of quid per month, you can have inclusive evening and weekend calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers. However, on these deals, calls made on weekdays are chargeable and the rate is more than £7 per HOUR.

That high rate can be avoided. An Unlimited Anytime call package costs around £8.99 per month. With line rental that's a total of around £27.98 per month.

BT also has an alternative package with line rental and Unlimited Anytime calls for a much lower figure. This is the BT Home Phone Saver deal and costs around £21.99 per month. This deal is hidden away on BT's website and doesn't seem to be routinely offered. This is equivalent to a line rental of around £13 per month plus the £8.99 per month cost of the Unlimited Anytime call package.

Ofcom is now effectively making this level of line rental (around £12 per month) the normal rate for all BT 'landline only' customers. This will effectively move people who have "line rental and anytime calls" onto prices that are much the same as the BT Home Phone Saver deal.

However, there are still very many people on weekend or evening and weekend packages who, although they will see a £7 per month reduction in the line rental, should really be on an unlimited anytime deal. More work needs to be done to promote deals with anytime calls. BT's advertising suggests these deals are for high users. However, anyone who makes more than about one hour of weekday daytime calls per month should be on an unlimited anytime deal.

littleboo

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

For clarity, since the OFCOM announcement talked about a consumer price which is therefore VAT inclusive, I also gave the VAT inclusive price of wholesale line rental.

The VAT exclusive price is £87.62/year (£7.23/month)

Thanks for the clarification, so if its £11.99 to the consumer, that's £10 ex vat, and the wholesale price is £7.23 then the margin is £2.77, as VAT will only be added to the retail price.

Caddyman

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

You can avail yourself of this discount by moving your broadband to someone else and keeping your voice service with BT retail. I have mine this way so expect to see my line rental reduce.

Unless I've misunderstood the story here, it doesn't say that. It says that you'll only get the £11.99 line rental from next year, as long as you only have a telephone line? Quote:

The cut applies to customers who only have a landline and don't have broadband from BT or another provider.

Or perhaps you're referring to a different line rental/broadband package scenario? in which case I apologise for my own confusion.

My position is, I have a phone line that I use for fibre only. The fact it is also capable of voice calls is completely irrelevant to me. I don't want the ability to make any voice calls and I don't use the line for voice calls, hence why I don't have a phone plugged into the socket. What I'd like, is a fibre only line that is cheaper on line rental than it currently is. I'm not the only one in this position. As it is, I'm very limited as to whom I can have as an ISP that provides fibre broadband at the speed I require, i.e. BT or Plusnet, all the others cannot provide speeds suitable for my requirement. And we don't have cable in my area either.

In short, I'm asking for the impossible so I should probably shut up!

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

The question I have is where is the dividing line that segregates these "elderly" people who, for reasons unknown, have no broadband and aren't intelligent enough to shop around and find a cheaper supplier, and the new generation of upcomming "elderly" people who are knowledgeable about competition in supply.

Or does it happen that when you get to a certain age you are no longer in the know and not savvy even if you once were. At some point all the "elderly" will be made up of our current "youngerly" who do know you can shop around - so when will we be shot of these "elderly" laggards leaving only "elderly" savvies?

What about if you have Broadband only with say Virgin and a landline from BT? How could BT know if you have a fibre only connection with Virgin which does not use the telephone system.

Caddyman

A_Flock_Of_Sheep wrote: »

The question I have is where is the dividing line that segregates these "elderly" people who, for reasons unknown, have no broadband and aren't intelligent enough to shop around and find a cheaper supplier, and the new generation of upcomming "elderly" people who are knowledgeable about competition in supply.

Or does it happen that when you get to a certain age you are no longer in the know and not savvy?........

Indeed! Great question, well presented!

I'm 50 and there are 'kids' out there who think I'm old lol! And yet, I'm far more financially savvy than they will ever be and my online skills would leave some of them at the start line. If I'm as technologically savvy now at 50, imagine what I'll be like when I'm 70 lol!

I forsee that the generation that are in their 50's now, will be much different than those currently in their 70's and 80's or older and the business world will have to take that into account. Or perhaps there does come a point in one's life where we just say 'sod it' and no longer wish to have the ability to help ourselves?

redux

Caddyman wrote: »

My position is, I have a phone line that I use for fibre only. The fact it is also capable of voice calls is completely irrelevant to me. I don't want the ability to make any voice calls and I don't use the line for voice calls, hence why I don't have a phone plugged into the socket. What I'd like, is a fibre only line that is cheaper on line rental than it currently is. I'm not the only one in this position.

Why? It's still a line to the house, whether it has calls on it or not.

I used to read people saying they wanted to pay for broadband only, not calls, and therefore not line rental either. This doesn't make sense, as a physical connection is needed. Yes, a few years ago some deals were for line rental with some calls included, but that doesn't seem to happen any more.

Nowadays if someone else's bill has three elements, line, broadband, calls, and you don't use the calls and don't pay for calls, I can't see why you are complaining.

You've already removed their chance to make profit on one element of your use. That's good enough, without trying to strip out all the profit.

If you want a chance to save more, consider churning your suppliers, with promotional discounts or cashback on each new deal.

Caddyman

redux wrote: »

Why? It's still a line to the house, whether it has calls on it or not.

I used to read people saying they wanted to pay for broadband only, not calls, and therefore not line rental either. This doesn't make sense, as a physical connection is needed. Yes, a few years ago some deals were for line rental with some calls included, but that doesn't seem to happen any more.

Nowadays if someone else's bill has three elements, line, broadband, calls, and you don't use the calls and don't pay for calls, I can't see why you are complaining.

What I'm complaining about, is the fact I think that the cost of line rental is disproportionate to what I actually use the line for, i.e. fibre broadband only. Where is it my fault that the line is capable of voice calls as well? I don't want to pay any part of that element because I don't use it and I have no intention of using it. All I'm saying is, I'm happy to pay line rental, but only line rental that is proportionate to my needs. I'm quite sure others in my position feel the same.

One can sit there an argue all day that it's my fault that I don't use the landline element, but I've got no need for it. I can't bin the line because I need broadband and even if I separated the two elements by using a different ISP, I'm still going to be paying through the nose for line rental.

A Flock of Sheep did pose an interesting question though, if one had cable with Virgin, how would BT know you had a contract with them if you found yourself eligible for this much reduced line rental that this story is about?

redux

Caddyman wrote: »

What I'm complaining about, is the fact I think that the cost of line rental is disproportionate to what I actually use the line for, i.e. fibre broadband only. Where is it my fault that the line is capable of voice calls as well? I don't want to pay any part of that element because I don't use it and I have no intention of using it. All I'm saying is, I'm happy to pay line rental, but only line rental that is proportionate to my needs. I'm quite sure others in my position feel the same.

One can sit there an argue all day that it's my fault that I don't use the landline element, but I've got no need for it. I can't bin the line because I need broadband and even if I separated the two elements by using a different ISP, I'm still going to be paying through the nose for line rental.

Whatever the usage, the line facility is a physical connection, made of various components.

It isn't divisible; you can't have half or two-thirds of a line.

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

Caddyman wrote: »

Indeed! Great question, well presented!

I'm 50 and there are 'kids' out there who think I'm old lol! And yet, I'm far more financially savvy than they will ever be and my online skills would leave some of them at the start line. If I'm as technologically savvy now at 50, imagine what I'll be like when I'm 70 lol!

I forsee that the generation that are in their 50's now, will be much different than those currently in their 70's and 80's or older and the business world will have to take that into account. Or perhaps there does come a point in one's life where we just say 'sod it' and no longer wish to have the ability to help ourselves?

I wasn't really sure how to present my view on this but I do get fed up with the fact things cannot seem to progress without dteriment to the "elderly". Some kindof social demographic that seems unable to fend for itself, take effective decisions or shop around for a competetive deal.

It was the same with cheques. The "elderly" again was (inter alia) cited as a large reason to keep this antequated payment system.

It has also been mentioned that standard energy tariffs are ripping off - you guessed it.... That "elderly" social group of people who are entirely devoid of the ability to find out cheaper tariffs or actually learn how to use a computer. Quite frankly if someone refuses (as many elderly people do) to use a computer then they deserve to be left behind on tariffs and bills that charge more for them to use.

Oh and PS - I am the elderly - well coming up for retirement and I can use a computer. I also remember the workplace without them and HAD to learn how they worked in order to keep employed.

In fact let's think about this. I remember computers in the workplace in round about 1985. That is now 32 years ago. So if you are now 80 years old tha would have made you approx 48 in 1985. So in my view no one under the age of 80 should not be accessing cheap online deals. So it's a load of rubbish stating that "elderly" people are being seen off. I think most of our "elderly" born in the time where slate and pencil was common in the workplace is slim.

teddysmum

Caddyman wrote: »

What I'm complaining about, is the fact I think that the cost of line rental is disproportionate to what I actually use the line for, i.e. fibre broadband only. Where is it my fault that the line is capable of voice calls as well? I don't want to pay any part of that element because I don't use it and I have no intention of using it. All I'm saying is, I'm happy to pay line rental, but only line rental that is proportionate to my needs. I'm quite sure others in my position feel the same.

One can sit there an argue all day that it's my fault that I don't use the landline element, but I've got no need for it. I can't bin the line because I need broadband and even if I separated the two elements by using a different ISP, I'm still going to be paying through the nose for line rental.

A Flock of Sheep did pose an interesting question though, if one had cable with Virgin, how would BT know you had a contract with them if you found yourself eligible for this much reduced line rental that this story is about?

You probably spend more time using your line for internet than others do for phone calls.


I thought this old chestnut of not wanting to pay for a land line had died off ,as it's soften been pointed out that internet is not magic. it needs a land line to travel along.


It's rather like saying you want the bowls in a dinner set at a reduced price, because you only use them for cereal and never have soup, so you shouldn't be charged for soup bowls.