Home phone News

Read the latest news from the world of home phone, so you can decide whether to switch suppliers or get more from your service. Click here to meet our journalists.

Read the latest home phone news here...

Villages turn to phone boxes to mark Queen’s diamond jubilee (24-5-12)

K6 kiosks used to celebrate almost 80 years after being introduced to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V

Phone cable theft costs insurers up to £1m a week (22-5-12)

Copper telephone wires are increasingly at risk from metal thieves

Profits jump as TalkTalk turnaround takes off (17-5-12)

TalkTalk is back on track for success, says CEO Dido Harding.

Openreach lets out 74,000 landlines in first three months of 2012 (14-5-12)

Sixth quarter of growth in a row follows two years of decline and flatline.

Oh my! O2 gains almost 100,000 home phone customers in three months (11-5-12)

Providers sees call package subscriptions rise by 46% in the first three months of 2012.

Elderly man helps police hook crooks behind telephone scam (9-5-12)

Peter Bish 'played along' with a fake lottery win to help catch fraudsters.

Sky gains over 250,000 line rental customers (4-5-12)

First three months of 2012 also sees 220,000 take-up Sky Talk call packages.

Waitin’ for a Superman: BT selling off red telephone boxes (30-4-12)

Iconic Jubilee kiosks on sale for the first time in 25 years as payphone use continues to plummet.

Virgin Media gains home phone customers in first three months of 2012 (25-4-12)

Landline provider loses non-cable customers but gains almost 7,000 new cable users.

Primus cuts cost of UK’s cheapest line rental (24-4-12)

Home phone users can save over £90 a year with the landline deal

Ofcom fines company £750,000 for silent and abandoned calls (20-4-12)

Action against HomeServe backed by advice group.

Hull phone provider KC increasing prices from June (18-4-12)

KC claims call plans are still unbeatable, despite a looming price rise.

Phone calls to HMRC cost taxpayers time and money (13-4-12)

Callers wait average of 29 minutes on phone to HM Revenue and Customs.

Do you know how much it costs to call 03, 08, 09 and 118 numbers? (05-4-12)

Ofcom plans to ‘clarify and simplify’ calls to non-geographic numbers are charged

TalkTalk line rental set to rise (03-4-12)

Standard line rental charge to increase by 70p from £13.80 to £14.50 per month.

Brits experiencing “telecoms rage”, studies reveal (27-3-12)

Direct Save Telecom blames outsourced call centres for phone rage.

Can BT's RABIT catch cable theft culprits? (26-3-12)

Burglar alarm to protect BT home telephone lines from copper thieves.

TalkTalk still the most complained about telephone provider (22-3-12)

Ofcom complaints data shows TalkTalk is worst for customer service.

What happens when we run out of telephone numbers? (21-3-12)

People living in Bournemouth and Poole will soon have to dial an area code before they can make local calls.

BT may appeal against potential landline price cuts (13-3-12)

Telecoms giant says it needs 'a fair rate of return' from wholesale line rental to safeguard future investment in the UK’s telephone network.

Could you soon be paying less for your landline? (12-3-12)

Price cuts for providers may be passed on to custom.

David Walliams to voice Speaking Clock (9-3-12)

Celebrities lend their vocal talents to the Speaking Clock for Sport Relief.

Orange launches inclusive landline to mobile calls (6-3-12)

New package gives users 500 minutes of mobile calls, or 1,000 through a special offer.

Did you sign-up for an O2 landline last year? (27-2-12)

Almost 130,000 people did, as the provider saw a 149% increase in home phone subscriptions.

Premium telephone “tricks” uncovered by Which? Travel study (23-2-12)

Expensive 090 numbers used by holiday companies to make us pay more.

ChildLine’s 25th birthday marked by telephone box art exhibition (20-2-12)

A quarter of a century of free telephone counselling for children celebrated by the BT ArtBox project.

Networks ordered to cut landline to mobile costs (15-2-12)

Savings expected to be passed on to consumers, Vodafone not convinced.

Ofcom: 'Switching home phone provider should be easy' (9-2-12)

Regulator says process needs simplifying to prevent confusion.

Over 60,000 switch to TalkTalk telephone (8-2-12)

Provider gains phone and broadband bundle customers in the final three months of 2011.

Ofcom proposes UK line rental price cuts (6-2-12)

Reduced wholesale charges could mean cheaper home phone bills.

Virgin Media to increase call charges (3-2-12)

Price of calls increases, line rental remains frozen.

Sky gains 650,000 home phone customers in 2011 (1-2-12)

Home phone provider also sees line rentals rise, while the number of customers taking telephone, broadband and TV grows by over a quarter.

Calls for doctors to stop using premium rate phone numbers (27-1-12)

Expensive GP appointment lines “must be stopped”.

Dispatches investigates automated telephone systems (17-1-12)

“Victor Meldrew” actor grumbles about computerised phones.

Primus Saver increases call costs (17-1-12)

UK’s cheapest landline provider puts up price of calls and connection fees following increase in wholesale charges.

Telephone inventor’s letter to sell for £40,000? (16-1-12)

Scribbled note from Alexander Graham Bell goes to auction.

TalkTalk retains Wooden Spoon Award for worst customer service (12-1-12)

Home phone and broadband provider is voted worst company for customer service by Daily Mail readers for the second year running.

Jersey Telecom charges frozen for a year (9-1-12)

Channel Islands Authority caps line rental and call charges.

Would a telephone made from a real banana appeal to you? (4-1-12)

The technology used to turn an everyday banana into a telephone wins the grand prize at an international virtual reality conference.

Village makes a great call turning phone box into a library (3-1-12)

A suggestion from a local book club sees a disused phone box given a facelift and a new career.

Is this the device to mark the home phone comeback?

Emergency phone lines bombarded with hoax calls (30-12-11)

Teenager could be jailed for making fake 999 calls at Christmas.

Are you with the most complained about landline provider? (20-12-11)

TalkTalk is once again the most moaned about home phone company, but it’s getting better, according to Ofcom.

Is this the device to mark the home phone comeback? (20-12-11)

Android-based smartphone to make home phones a must-have...again.

Technology totals time-honoured telephone traditions (14-12-11)

Old-fashioned habits like remembering people’s phone numbers are diminishing in the digital age.

Ofcom winning the war against nuisance calls (06-12-11)

Watchdog clamps down on silent calls from rule-breaking firms.

BT home phone prices going up 5% (02-12-11)

Line rental will be £14.60 a month from tomorrow.

Phone cable thieves to face crackdown (30-11-11)

Thefts are leaving home phone customers without a landline for weeks.

Ofcom reveals home phone customer satisfaction levels (25-11-11)

How good is your landline provider’s customer service?

Could you be talking to Lady Gaga via landline this Christmas? (24-11-11)

US pop monarch reveals she regularly talks to her ‘little monsters’ via landline telephone.

Councils spend £4,000 on phone calls to Speaking Clock (21-11-11)

Staff make 12,000 calls to “look busy” on the phone.

Skype launches Freetalk adapter home telephone (16-11-11)

Users will benefit from cheap phone calls and Skype chats on a landline.

Helpline charity marks 100th birthday of founder (14-11-11)

Phone helpline Samaritans celebrates 100th anniversary of Chad Varah’s birth.

Could Plusnet save you money on your landline? (10-11-11)

Home phone provider offers 12 months line rental for the price of 9 through a new one-off payment.

Police launch “101” phone number for non-emergency calls (09-11-11)

Four UK police forces have introduced the “101” non-emergency telephone number.

Defibrillator brings village phone box back to life (08-11-11)

Villagers in a remote part of Scotland have found a novel purpose for a redundant red telephone box - with the potential to help save lives.

Primus makes home phone deals even cheaper (07-11-11)

Primus offers home phone discounts - with line rental from as little as £6.49 a month.

Why get a smartphone when you can tweet from your home phone? (02-11-11)

What happens when analogue and digital collide? You get a rotary phone capable of sending Twitter updates.

Have you been targeted by a card fraud phone scam? (02-11-11)

Bank card fraudsters have conned over-60s out of more than £750,000 over the telephone so far this year, says the UK Cards Association.

Brits spend five hours a month on home phone (01-11-11)

Households across the UK still spend five hours a month using the landline, despite living in an increasingly mobile world.

Cable theft causes ‘wrong number’ landline chaos in Surrey (27-10-11)

Phone cable thieves cause confusion in Surrey after several households were reconnected with incorrect telephone numbers.

Landline smartphone comes to the UK (24-10-11)

Gigaset SL910A will be the first touchscreen home phone available in the UK when it hits stores next month

Sky increases landline and home phone subscriptions (20-10-11)

Home phone provider sees year-on-year rise in both line rental and telephone package sales, despite a drop since last quarter

Do you know your home phone number?’ (17-10-11)

Straw poll asks people if they know their landline number following figures that revealed landline use is dropping

BT home phone customers could win Olympics tickets (13-10-11)

BT marks the anniversary by donating a K6 kiosk to the Design Museum.

Over-55s stick with home phone for calls (11-10-11)

A new poll reveals over 80% of people aged over 55 still use their home phone to make calls..

TalkTalk line rental price hike kicks in (10-10-11)

TalkTalk line rental increase announced last month comes into effect.

TalkTalk boasts ‘UK’s best value’ international landline calls ‘boost’ (04-10-11)

Home phone company launches the “UK’s best value landline calls to international destinations”.

Vonage drops its rates and adds more inclusive countries (3-10-11)

Internet phone provider cuts the cost of four packages and throws in up to 17 new countries users can call as part of their package

New rules on broadband speeds (29-09-11)

Home phone and broadband providers will need to change the way packages are advertised once new rules come into place.

TalkTalk the most complained about home phone provider. Again. (22-09-11)

TalkTalk’s landline service gets the most moans again, but it’s improving, finds Ofcom.

Plusnet brings back Talk Anytime International 300 (21-09-11)

Plusnet resurrects Talk Anytime International package with 300 minutes of calls abroad.

New technologies don’t stop the chatter (16-09-11)

Despite Facebook and text messaging, people still love to talk.

Ofcom outlaws rollover contracts on landlines (14-09-11)

Telecoms regulator to make it easier to switch home phone packages from 31 December 2011.

UK telephone number supply secured (07-09-11)

Ofcom to introduce local area code dialling where numbers are scarce.

Philips unveils phone that links your mobile and landline (05-09-11)

Philips ThinkLink integrates mobile and home phone using Bluetooth.

TalkTalk raises line rental 9.5% (02-09-11)

Home phone provider’s monthly landline charge to go up by £1.20 from October.

BT to hike call costs 5% (30-08-11)

BT’s second price hike of the year will see call costs rise by up to 5%.

Red phone box celebrates 75th birthday (24-08-11)

BT marks the anniversary by donating a K6 kiosk to the Design Museum.

Premium rate complaints fall 52% (19-08-11)

Complaints about premium rate phone numbers drop 52% this year, says regulator.

Monday night the busiest time for TalkTalk home phone calls (15-08-11)

110 million minutes of calls made on a Monday evening.

Gmail calling comes to the UK (11-08-11)

UK users of Google’s email service can now call landlines and mobiles.

Phone home for less with Vonage’s international calling app (08-08-11)

New app provides low-cost overseas calls to landlines and mobiles.

Older people keep home phones alive (04-08-11)

A quarter of older households rely on their home phone.

Mixed fortunes for home phone providers in second quarter (01-08-11)

BT, TalkTalk and Virgin Media face landline market challenges.