Ask our Expert

Can I get rid of my landline?

Our expert says...

The reason you need to pay for line rental even though you don’t actually make any home phone calls is because you have an ADSL, or copper wire, broadband connection.

This means that your internet service is delivered through your phone line - so you are using it, even if it’s not for calls.

Broadband without a phone line

There are only two ways you can stay online while getting rid of your home phone line completely; a Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com) cable package or mobile broadband.

Virgin Media does allow you to sign-up for standalone broadband packages, though these are more expensive than most copper wire rivals so you might not save much cash.

However, you will get much faster speeds for your money. The cable provider offers speeds of up to 10Mb, 30Mb, 50Mb and even 100Mb broadband - and regulator Ofcom found that it managed to deliver over 90% of its advertised speed on each package when tested in May 2011.

While the price might not put you off, you will have to double-check whether or not you can even sign-up to Virgin Media’s cable network, since it only covers around half the UK. Don’t get it confused with the Virgin Media National service, which uses the same copper wires as your existing package.

Mobile broadband

The other alternative, mobile broadband, will free you from your monthly line rental costs, but also has its drawbacks.

If you're thinking of signing up to a mobile broadband deal, make sure you take the following things into account:

• Coverage - mobile broadband signals vary massively in different parts of the country and even indoors. Poor coverage could render your dongle almost unusable, so make sure you check the signal at your postcode before you commit
• Speed - for the large part, your coverage will determine your speed, but you do need to remember that on average, mobile broadband speeds are far slower than fixed line connections
• Download allowance - although you can get up to 15GB a month from Three, typical mobile broadband data allowances are more like 3GB or 5GB - not really enough to catch up on all your favourite EastEnders episodes on the BBC iPlayer

The cheapest line rental

Even if you find neither Virgin Media nor a mobile broadband connection are available or suitable to you, you can still save money by switching to a cheaper line rental deal.

While BT (www.bt.com) - and Virgin Media if you take one of its landlines - both charge £14.60 a month line rental, and TalkTalk (www.talktalk.co.uk) charges £14.50, there are cheaper alternatives.

One example is Primus Saver. If you sign-up through Homephonechoices.co.uk, you can get line rental and calls from as little as £6.29 a month - less than half the price of BT’s line rental.

Then, you can simply add broadband from another supplier on top.

Plusnet (www.plus.net) offers the UK’s cheapest standalone broadband from £6.49 a month with a 10GB allowance.

Also consider O2 (www.o2.co.uk), which lets you add its award-winning broadband, which comes with a 20GB allowance, from £8.50 if you're an O2 customer. O2 also offers its own line rental for £7.50 without any calls.

Doing this and switching your line rental to the cheapest option could cut your landline bill from over £166 a year with BT to just over £81 if you go for the cheapest alternative.

Ask us a question

If you have a general switching or provider query please email us at ourexpert@homephonechoices.co.uk

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