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

Ian011

The reduced rate has already been available for about four years simply by signing up to the BT Home Phone Saver deal. This package includes line rental, unlimited anytime calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers, voicemail, caller-display, and various other features such as inclusive calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers. The current cost is £21.99 per month (effectively £13 per month line rental plus £8.99 for the call package).

BT Home Phone Saver is not available to BT Broadband customers. Ofcom stepped in because... of those who were eligible for the HPS deal, less than one in five had signed up to it and therefore potentially four out of five of BTs landline-only customers are paying too much for their calls. The deal between BT and Ofcom essentially sees all those other callers moving to cheaper line rental. However, if they remain on the wrong call package they may still end up paying too much for the calls they make.

Doc_N

Ian011 wrote: »

The reduced rate has already been available for about four years simply by signing up to the BT Home Phone Saver deal. This package includes line rental, unlimited anytime calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers, voicemail, caller-display, and various other features such as inclusive calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers. The current cost is £21.99 per month (effectively £13 per month line rental plus £8.99 for the call package).

BT Home Phone Saver is not available to BT Broadband customers. Ofcom stepped in because... of those who were eligible for the HPS deal, less than one in five had signed up to it and therefore potentially four out of five of BTs landline-only customers are paying too much for their calls. The deal between BT and Ofcom essentially sees all those other callers moving to cheaper line rental. However, if they remain on the wrong call package they may still end up paying too much for the calls they make.

Thanks for that - I had no idea it existed! Pretty well hidden, isn't it?

My mother's currently with Post Office Home Phone (£14.99pm if paid a year in advance, plus £8pm for anytime calls) because it appeared to be the cheapest option for someone without internet access, but this looks an even better deal.

I'll have a shot at negotiating a better deal with Post Office Home Phone, but I doubt they'll bite - if they don't, I'll switch.

Thanks again.

rpb

Hi All,

April is nearly here. Do we need to do anything to get our line rental reduced when Ofcom's requirement on BT to reduce their line rental kicks in?

I just tried to find out from BT via online chat and their rep wouldn't tell me.

I was just about to sign up for a 12-month line rental saver, too, when I read about the Ofcom discount soon to be arriving. I'm glad I did because the reduced rental is apparently forfeited if you've signed up for that! :eek:

JJ_Egan

Use your BT members community forum .

OP says from April price will drop to those qualifying .
Landline only no broadband will drop .



The change will apply to two sets of customers:

• 800,000 landline-only customers will automatically see their bills reduced.
• 200,000 Home Phone Saver customers can choose to stay on their current package or move to the £11.99 line rental, depending on which is best for them. We're checking if there will be any cost to switch and will update this story as soon as we know.

The cut applies to customers who only have a landline and don't have broadband from BT or another provider.
It won't apply to those who have a Line Rental Saver deal, where you pay £208.89 upfront for the year.
BT has said it will not be refunding or compensating customers for higher landline charges prior to the upcoming price cut.

Andymoney_2

Quote: "OP says from April price will drop to those qualifying .
Landline only no broadband will drop ."

I've just received a "coupon" from BT that they want back if I don't have broadband.

Reading the OFCOM ruling it seems to talk about line + broadband as part of a package. Does this mean using the same connection (i.e. ADSL over the landline)?

My question - If the landline is only used for voice, and broadband is accessed using an entirely different connection (cable), does the discount still apply. Are BT trying to limit their liability unfairly?

JJ_Egan

Different connection would be Virgin cable not BT .
Otherwise the BB data comes down the BT OR cable as per the phone .

rpb

I received my letter from BT today. Plastered all over it is the requirement "not to have broadband", and the form that needs sending back has a big box saying "No, I don't have broadband". I was under the impression that this should refer to taking broadband via your BT phone line (i.e., ADSL, from BT, or perhaps even if from a different provider). Indeed, the back of the letter states categorically that getting Internet/broadband via, say, your mobile, is fine and doesn't count, so it would seem reasonable to me that obtaining a fast Internet connection in independent (from BT) ways should be acceptable (e.g., separate cable, 4G provision to the home, a direct private connection to the Internet, etc.). I suspect, therefore, that BT are attempting to pressure people into not benefiting from the new OfCom-mandated discounted rate (wholesale land line provision is currently around £7/month whilst BT charge £18.99 a month currently plus extortionate call rates to mobiles and international, reduced to £11.99/month after 1 April with this discount). They seem to be being rather loose with their use of the term 'broadband' as a catch-all term (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband#Internet_broadband for example, where broadband can be anything from 'faster than dial-up', to 1.5Mb/s, over 2Mb/s, over 4Mb/s, or much higher - all of which are achievable via 4G on your mobile).

From the OfCom document here: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/review-of-landline-telephone-services they state:

Ofcom has been concerned that telephone line rental prices have risen, despite wholesale costs falling. Following a review of this market, we set out firm proposals to cut monthly bills for BT's landline-only customers by between £5 and £7.

In response, BT has agreed to our proposal in full and is reducing its monthly line rental price by £7, from April 2018, for its customers who take only a landline from BT.

This indicates that if you "only take a landline from BT" you're protected.

So what this seems to boil down to is definitions of broadband, split-customers, and so forth. If I take a voice line and broadband from BT I don't get the discount. If I take voice from BT and broadband via the same phoneline (ADSL) from a *different* provider, then do I get a discount as a "BT voice-only customer" (with broadband from someone else)? Possibly not? But if I take a voice line from BT and broadband from Three via 4G, or from a cable to a friendly neighbour, or a via satellite service, or via a completely independent cable service from some other provider (e.g., Virgin), or some other feed of my own direct to the Internet, then do I get the "voice line only" discount? They say yes for Three/4G. Can we assume yes for those other forms of (non-BT, possibly non-ADSL) Internet?

skyeblue

I got the letter yesterday, it has to be returned and received by 31 March! Not much thinking time then.

I did return it today, confirming that I did not have broadband.

We do have broadband, not via BT or any other terrestrial provider. As we live too far from the exchange, in an area that BT have confirmed is unlikely to ever have a fibre upgrade, our service is provided wirelessly. Therefore I considered, in the little time I was allowed, that we do not have the broadband that BT is referring to, it is more akin to a mobile service.

childerbeest

Hi - the eligibility for this offer excludes those who have broadband with another provider. Does anyone know if this includes broadband which is not provided over the land line? I have FTTH from a small local tech company so only use land line for calls.

thanks,
Matt

ChrisJD

childerbeest wrote: »

Hi - the eligibility for this offer excludes those who have broadband with another provider. Does anyone know if this includes broadband which is not provided over the land line?
Matt

Sadly I don't think so. I'm with Virgin, and BT say http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/60353/~/reduced-rental-for-landline-only-customers

"I have a broadband service with Virgin, am I eligible for the
discount?

To be eligible, you must not have broadband with BT or any other
broadband provider. This includes Virgin broadband. This discount
is for customers that only have a line rental service."



Chris