Broadband without a phone line 27 July 2021 at 5:03PM in Broadband & internet access 17 replies 413 views

MaxterMind

At the link below it states:
"There are some great broadband deals available that don't require a phone line."

https://www.broadbandgenie.co.uk/broadband/without-a-phone-line

Does this mean that this type of deal simply mean that you wouldn't have a phone number and be able to make/receive telephone calls?

Presumably, I would still require a physical Openreach (BT line) telephone network line or else how would the internet connection be made?

With this type of deal, would I still need to have a BT contract to pay monthly line rental (even though I don't require a functioning landline)?

Thanks.

Neil_Jones

We don't do what's called "naked DSL" in this country.  That's code for providing internet only without the phone line, nothing to do with how you surf... but anyway...

Virgin do what is the closest, but you pay more for it anyway.  Its usually cheaper to have phone and internet (and not use the phone) than it is just to have the broadband on its own.

All internet services that come via "BT Lines" require a phone line, whichh you pay rental on and call charges if any are made.

MaxterMind

Thank you Neil_Jones.

MaxterMind

Would anyone happen to know how much monthly line rental is with BT Openreach, for a domestic household (excluding calls/broadband)?

Or how long it takes to get activated to an already-installed telephone line?

Thanks.

iniltous

It’s not strictly true anymore to state you cannot get ‘naked DSL’ from Openreach based suppliers, as OR have a SoGEA product that doesn’t include a phone service , but don’t expect it to be much ( if any ) cheaper than broadband with a phone service .
No one needs to use BT if they don’t want to , so paying BT line rental , or paying BT anything at all is entirely up to the user…but if you mean , do you still have to ( indirectly ) pay Openreach for the ‘line’ , then yes you do…why else would they provide and maintain  the means of delivery that gets ‘broadband’ to your home….not having telephony doesn’t remove ‘line rental’ ( if you want to call it that ) , if you don’t want or need a phone service with your broadband , you may save £1 a month by your provider not including it, but don’t expect much more than that as a saving

MaxterMind

As an example:

https://www.italktelecom.co.uk/packages

In the Unlimited Broadband package it states, "Line rental as standard" for £19.99/month. Does this mean I would not have to pay an additional separate line rental fee directly to BT/Openreach on top of this?

If correct, do I still need Openreach to activate my telephone line? The telephone line is installed but is currently not in operation (no landline number).

littleboo

Broadband prices include line rental, where applicable. If you look at the MSE broadband offers, you can get Plusnet ADSL for an effective price of £12.70 on a 12 month contract. Plusnet charge £49.99 for a new line

iniltous

Broadband isn’t sold anymore as (for example) broadband £5 , line rental £20 , total £25/month , it’s sold as broadband for £25  per month , it’s not subdivided into separate parts ,because that was never the correct division of costs anyway, ISP’s  deliberately made the LR portion look expensive and broadband look cheap, that way ( subconsciously ) punters think it’s OR and not the ISP making the money…the ISP pay OR about £7/month for LR .

Only the extremely naive would think , if I only have broadband with no phone then it’s going to be £5 a month (because I don’t need £20 line rental as I don’t want the phone) if you want to think of it in those terms, line rental isn’t ‘ telephony’ anyway , it’s the charge for getting a ‘line’ to your home (and fixing it if it goes faulty )  if you don’t want a phone service there is no real reduction in the costs to OR , the line still has to be provided and maintained, irrespective of it having a dialtone on it as well as broadband.

If a company is claiming to offer unlimited broadband for £20 , then there is no extra line rental charge, it’s included in the £20, FWIW ,  £20/month for exchange based ADSL is an OK price , but most people these days would probably want FTTC (if it were available) and well known providers can provide FTTC for around £25.

Do you need OR to activate a ‘phone line’ if it’s not currently active, obviously yes, how else is the broadband service going to get into your home ? it may be possible to reactivate an old line without a visit to your home, or it may need an engineer visit , but any charge for ‘installing a line’ would have to be addressed to whoever is going to be charging you for the service ( the ISP ) but  for £20 a month , unless the line is currently working , then there probably will be a charge to get the line working again , but that’s the ISP charging you , not Openreach, even if OR do charge the ISP something to get the line back into service.

IMHO it would be clearer if instead of ISP’s quoting 
"There are some great broadband deals available that don't require a phone line."
they actually said 
"There are some great broadband deals available that don't require a phone service’, they all do require a ‘line’ and therefore line rental, but it’s part of the headline monthly cost, not added on afterwards

MaxterMind

Thanks - I'll contact OR first to see about re-activating the line. Then I can look into a broadband provider such as Plusnet.

Neil_Jones

MaxterMind said:

Thanks - I'll contact OR first to see about re-activating the line. Then I can look into a broadband provider such as Plusnet.

You as a customer do not talk to Openreach, you cannot talk to Openreach, Openreach only deal with the ISPs.

Pick a provider, give them your address, sign up and they'll liaise with Openreach to do whatever is needed to get a/the line reactivated/installed to your property.  If there is a line there that just doesn't work it may be just a case of being reactivated on the exchange most likely remotely, done in two seconds with no need for anybody to come round.

iniltous

Exactly as NJ states, if you have identified a provider that can provide you with broadband (with or without a phone service ) for £20/month , and you want to go for it, you sign up with them ( not OR ) , the ISP may charge you if work has to be done to get the old line that exists back into service, you may want to check with the ISP how much this could cost , as the first bill could be £20 for ‘broadband’ and anywhere upto £100 or more to get the line ‘installed’