Home phone Providers

Orange phone and broadband bundles

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

Famous for its mobile phone network, Orange (www.orange.co.uk) also offers bundles that combine home phone and broadband. If you’re an Orange mobile customer, switching your home phone and broadband could save you money. (Updated 21/01/10)

With any of these home phone and broadband deals you will receive one monthly bill from Orange for both your broadband and your home phone, and the company will deal with all aspects of your service, including any faults on the line. Both packages have an 18-month contract.

Which Orange home phone and broadband bundle?

Orange was founded in 1994 by Hutchison Telecom. In 2001 the company was bought over by France Telecom, and merged with its existing mobile operations. In addition to its global mobile network, Orange is the biggest internet service provider in Europe, with over 10 million customers across the UK, France, Poland, and Switzerland.

Orange broadband operated in the UK under the name Wanadoo until 2006. Since then, Orange has become one of the biggest providers offering mobile, broadband and home phone services.

Orange’s home phone packages are bundled with Orange broadband. This means that your line rental, call charges and broadband service will be combined in one monthly bill.

Orange Home Starter and home phone - A home phone and broadband tariff that includes:

• Up to 20Mb broadband
• Unlimited monthly download limit
• Free wireless router
• Free unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK local and national numbers

Orange Home Max and home phone - A home phone and broadband tariff that includes:

• Up to 20Mb broadband
• Unlimited monthly download limit
• Line rental
• Free wireless router
• Free unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK local and national numbers

Why should I get an Orange phone and broadband bundle?

Orange’s broadband and home phone packages come with a range of features, and have competitive call rates, that make them ideal for households that make most of their calls in the evening and at the weekend. Orange’s line rental charge is also one of the cheapest in the UK, at just £12.75 a month.

With both Orange home phone tariffs, you’ll get unlimited free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines. With the Home Starter package there is no change to your line rental, you will continue to pay this to your existing home phone supplier, however with the Home Max package your line rental will switch to Orange as well which is 75p cheaper than BT.

Orange Home Starter and Home Max customers can pay their bills by monthly direct debit or monthly continuous credit card payment, and there is no additional charge for the either payment method. However, bills are only available online (paperless e-billing) with Orange packages.

What do I need for Orange phone and broadband?

Switching your broadband and home phone services to Orange is really simple, and can be done in minutes. If you already have an active phone line, there will be no interruption to service, and in the majority of cases you’ll be able to keep the same phone number. The features you already have, such as caller ID, will stay the same, and you’ll also have exactly the same access to the operator and to emergency numbers.

The switch will be carried out at your local telephone exchange, so an engineer won’t need to visit your house, and Orange will tell your existing home phone provider that it will be billing you for your broadband, line services and calls (and line rental should you choose to take this from Orange) in the future.

If you don’t have a phone line, or if you are currently a cable customer (i.e. Virgin Media), you will have to arrange to have a line installed by BT, you can call BT on 0800 028 4474 to discuss this.

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