Convince Me (Or Not) To Keep My Landline Phone

molerat

I have been offered internet early renewal and BB without a landline is £2 pm less than I am currently paying and £3.73 less than I will be paying after next month's increase - even with the extra £3 from Mar 26 it will be 73p less than next month's price.  We never make calls, no call plan, as we have mobiles with unlimited calls but the landline has always been there, we have had the number for 35 years, it's like an old friend.  I do give out the number occasionally as it does mean I won't be bothered when I am out. Most friends and family now call our mobiles, I think there is only one that uses the landline number.

After writing this I am edging towards letting it go.  What do you all think ?

On-the-coast

About 6 months ago I bought a cheap new landline phone without the call protection features built in.  

Basically for emergencies because we so rarely get a landline call. 

After a few days of spam (yes we are TPS registered) I unplugged it - and haven’t noticed its absence.  

JGB1955

We have recently 'ditched' our landline of almost 40 years.  There was only one person who used to call it and, having now given them our mobile numbers, have no need of it.  It has enabled us to change internet providers, saving £28 per month.

brewerdave

IF you have reliable mobile signal, then there seems little reason to retain a landline.
HOWEVER, if you are like us, in an area with no 5g and very poor 4g then its an invaluable back up despite the occasional burst of junk calls..
Yes, we can make mobile calls using wifi calling via the router but ,mysteriously, we don't always get incoming calls - we find messages left in our message boxes.
Also ,our landline number has been given out over the past ~ 40 years to all sorts of relatives/friends, hospitals ,doctors etc. as well as the odd bank/financial institution for security purposes. Not sure I could produce a total list!
I'm now debating what are the risks of missing an important but unexpected call if we do away with the landline at contract renewal time in December. I may decide to set up a VOIP service for the home number and keep it until I'm pretty sure we have changed all important contacts over .

molerat

4G mobile signal is fairly good here, only half full bars but OK - a few weeks back when the internet went down I was hot spotting my laptop from the mobile.

I will also probably save £1 a month in electric a we have a DECT base and handsets / chargers.

Definitely heading towards ditching.

GrumpyDil

We got rid of our landline about 7 years ago so I'm in the get rid unless your mobile service is patchy and your provider doesn't support WiFi calling, assuming of course you have broadband of some sort.

molerat

Before I push the button I have been checking who has that number.  Most companies etc seem to have my mobile and some that don't have been easy to change but others make it impossible to delete a phone number, especially weird as they already have my mobile, and I have had to set my mobile as both "home" and "mobile".  Santander are about the worst as you cannot delete or set a mobile as home or work, "You must have a home and work number",so they still have my old work number listed - I retired from there in 2009 !

glennevis

molerat said:

Before I push the button I have been checking who has that number.  Most companies etc seem to have my mobile and some that don't have been easy to change but others make it impossible to delete a phone number, especially weird as they already have my mobile, and I have had to set my mobile as both "home" and "mobile".  Santander are about the worst as you cannot delete or set a mobile as home or work, "You must have a home and work number",so they still have my old work number listed - I retired from there in 2009 !

I managed to delete both landline and work numbers on Santander, leaving just my mobile number. It was a while ago so I can't remember how but the app has restricted functionality so it was probably via a browser.

Bigphil1474

We kept ours. We're with Virgin Media and the landline and anytime calls part of our package is cheaper with, than without. Only time the landline rings is the chemists to send an automated voice message that prescriptions are ready, and my dad used to call it before he passed. We won't be replacing the handset if it stops working.

littleboo

If you want to keep it "just in case", you can port the number to someone like A&A for a one off £12 then £1.44 per month. For catching occasional inbound calls, you could divert it to a mobile, you would pay the costs of the diverted leg. Alternatively, use a VOIP client on a smartphone to receive the calls. In theory, you should be able to port the number during a 30 day window after its be ceased.

iniltous

Obviously £1.44 is cheaper than £3 , but £3 is what BT routinely charge for having a phone number on a PAYG basis , without the £12 port fee ,
 as far as the OP is concerned is , even if the cost is trivial , is it worth it if you never make a call ?  ….FWIW , I had the same decision 18 months ago , I could have renewed broadband without a phone  service, it was £3 less , in my case I decided it was worth the small sum to have an incoming service with a phone number known to others , (I never make outgoing calls on the ‘landline’ ) , in that 18 months  I’ve only probably had 7 or 8 genuine calls, 1 or 2 would possibly have been problematic if I hadn’t received them , ( and 1 or 2 time wasters) but still feel it worthwhile, who knows though , in 6months time when renewal comes along I may decide to get rid …..it’s a personal choice , not much point IMHO asking others what they would do .