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Get a TalkTalk phone line

Updated: Friday 20 January, 2012

By Anthony Hill - anthony.hill@consumerchoices.co.uk

Whether you need a new line installed or an old one reconnected, choosing TalkTalk as your phone provider could save you a packet. But is TalkTalk right for you?

TalkTalk (www.talktalk.co.uk) is one of the UK’s largest home phone and broadband suppliers, providing services to over 4.2 million homes around the country.

Famed for its cheap broadband deals, TalkTalk also offers phone line installation, for as little as £50. So, if you’re in need of a new landline, perhaps because you’ve just moved house, check out the options below to see if a TalkTalk phone line will suit you:

	Free installation	28 Day Guarantee
Call TalkTalk 0800 049 7834 Go	Call BT now 0800 028 4474 Go	Call Virgin Media 0808 189 0508 Go	Call Sky now 0844 241 0582 Go	Call Primus now 0800 036 0170 Go
FREE connection	£0 with any calls & Broadband package	£0 with Calls Broadband + TV £40 otherwise	£10 connection charge	£59 connection charge
Set-up usually within 7 & 10 days for a new line installation. If switching from Virgin, you can keep your line until your new line has been activated *	Setup within 4 working days for a connection, and up to 16 working days for new line installations *	Setup usually within 2 weeks. Plus you can normally keep your number. Virgin Media also offers a 28 day money back guarantee *	Setup normally between 14 and 28 days for connetion or new line*	Setup between 12 - 14 days normally for a new line installation *
Go Call TalkTalk now 0800 049 7834	Go Call BT now 0800 028 4474	Go Call Virgin Media 0808 189 0508	Go Call Sky now 0844 241 0582	Go Call Primus now 0800 036 0170

* All providers allow you to select a convenient appointment on a suitable date when you place your order online. However, line setup times will typically depend on the availability of an engineer, and other factors, such as the number of concurrent line installations in your area.

Getting all your telecoms services from TalkTalk will not only save you money, but also cut down the number of bills and direct debits you have to pay each month.

And with any line rental deal from TalkTalk, you’ll also get unlimited free evening and weekend calls, whereas BT only offers unlimited weekend calls. All-in-one phone and broadband packages from TalkTalk start from as little as £6.50 a month, plus line rental at £14.50 on top.

Why get a TalkTalk phone line?

TalkTalk’s Essentials phone and broadband bundle is one of the cheapest on offer in the UK, at just £6.50 a month for broadband with speeds of up to 24Mb and a generous download allowance of 40GB a month. You also get free evening and weekend calls to UK national and local landlines. This does not include line rental, however.

Line rental from TalkTalk is not be one of the cheapest deals in the UK, and is more in line with rivals, such as BT (www.bt.com) and Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com), which both charge £13.90 a month at present - though BT will increase this to £14.60 on 4 December.

Another benefit of TalkTalk’s phone service is its home phone Boosts - these are essentially add-ons that you subscribe to for an extra cost each month. These offer competitive call rates to mobiles and international destinations as well as Boosts for your broadband package.

TalkTalk and “local loop unbundling”

TalkTalk is able to offer such cheap prices because it uses its own phone line network. This is known as local loop unbundling, or LLU. When you sign-up you will be switched from the BT network onto a TalkTalk phone line, so TalkTalk will take care of all aspects of your phone service, including any faults on the line. You will pay TalkTalk for all your calls, any calling features you subscribe to, and your line rental.

However, because TalkTalk offers phone services on its own network, you can only get a TalkTalk phone line in certain areas of the UK. Compare landline prices using the Homephonechoices.co.uk post code checker to see if switching to TalkTalk will save you money on your phone and broadband.

This also means that if you want to move back to the “BT network” used by BT and many other home phone providers, you might have to have a new line installed again.

Switching to a TalkTalk phone line

If you want to switch your landline service to TalkTalk or get a line installed, simply call TalkTalk on 0800 049 7834. TalkTalk will take over all aspects of your phone service, and will no longer pay your current landline provider for line rental or calls. TalkTalk says the switch usually takes between 7 and 10 working days.

You should also compare deals for bundled packages using our price comparison calculator. Switching to one of TalkTalk’s broadband packages may work out a lot cheaper. Click here for all the latest TalkTalk phone deals.

To switch to TalkTalk online, visit www.talktalk.co.uk, or order your new phone package by calling 0800 049 7834.