Home phone Guides

Home phone providers

Updated: Friday 13 January, 2012

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

Choosing between home phone suppliers can be a daunting task, especially with new providers popping up all the time. Our guide will help you find one that suits you.

UK telephone service providers

When considering which home phone company to choose, it’s important you think about how you use your landline.

1. Do you only have it for broadband or do you make a lot of calls?
2. When do you make the majority of your calls?
3. Do you often phone mobiles or international numbers?

The answers to these questions will help identify which kind of calling plan you need.

Phone line providers

There are lots of providers other than BT, which could give you a better deal. These may include Primus Saver and YourCalls.net (www.yourcalls.net). And you don’t just have to take your calls with them - you can take your line rental too for a cheaper deal.

• Visit the Primus Saver page on our website to switch online.
• TalkTalk (www.talktalk.co.uk) offers a competitive plan that pulls together line rental, calls and fast internet access.
• Orange (www.orange.co.uk) also offers phone and broadband packages. Existing Orange mobile phone customers will also get a discount off the headline rates.

Cable phone suppliers

Before switching phone provider, you should also think about the kind of service you want. You can choose either a standard BT line service with another provider, or a cable phone line service.

The main cable provider in the UK is Virgin Media (www.virginmedia.com). Cable phone lines are a lot different from the standard BT line, so if you choose to have a cable home phone package, an engineer will have to come to your house and install a new phone system.

Virgin Media’s cable network currently reaches about half of the UK, so use our postcode checker to see if cable is available in your area.

Other phone suppliers

Other home phone providers use BTs lines and sockets but divert the calls you make through their own networks. Companies such as TalkTalk (www.talktalk.co.uk), YourCalls.net (www.yourcalls.net) and Primus are just some of the alternatives, and the majority of the UK phone market is made up of this type of company.

The phone supplier will divert your calls by one of three methods:

1. Auto-dialer - This is a piece of equipment that plugs into your phone line to divert your calls.
2. Prefix number - Some phone service providers require you to dial a short number before each call you make.
3. Carrier pre-select (CPS) - This is becoming the most popular method as it automatically diverts calls without the customer having to do anything.

Switching home phone provider

You may be surprised to hear that you can save money on your phone bills just by switching home phone provider. Each provider caters for different types of call, so you could be wasting money by dealing with the wrong one.

What’s more, switching doesn’t cost a penny. Just choose a new supplier by doing a postcode search using our home phone comparison service, sign-up online, and the rest is taken care of by your new home phone provider. It couldn’t be simpler to start saving money!