Something that has been starting to annoy me in recent months is the £19.00 I have to pay Sky for line rental so that I can have broadband.
How many people really use a landline anymore in their homes. I know that in my house you are lucky if a couple of calls are made per month and we put mobile numbers down for everything to try to discourage anyone from actually calling the landline, but if you have broadband you have to pay for this service, total con if you ask me. There was a story a few years ago about line rental charges being banned and Culture Minister Ed Vaizey said at the time “People should pay for what they use” but nothing appears to have ever been done about it.
There are some broadband only deals but they are roughly the same as if you were going with line rental, total con if you ask me and it pisses me off to be honest. BT use the excuse that whether you have the option of making the phone calls or not, the cost of maintaining the line is the same. There is probably no easy solution to it I suppose but it does really feel like a total rip off.
grumpyscottishman.wordpress.com 
capitalists run our utilities profit means more profit, I too are like you Bruce, I have signed up to Fibre but never use or even lift the telephone hand set it’s not even plugged in. When i am only paying £5 for 4gb data unlimited minutes and texts and I am not limited to calling just a land line. And you’ll never get it to change when both the Labour and Tories both seek to worship capitalists.
100%YES
It just all feels like a con but you’re right it will never change and I don’t expect to get things for free but at least be treated fairly.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Can’t you rent just the wireless for internet without the phone ? I have internet through my landline socket using just a wireless connection for internet , no phone .. $60 au a month for unlimited data … which is about 30 quid .. tpg is the company I use …
http://howcanibeguiltyoftreasonwhenenglandisforeigntome
I have looked at various methods, it looks like you can get just broadband without the phone but it is the same price as far as I can see so you might as well just keep the phone line. It doesn’t make sense to me at all. As I said above I don’t expect it for free but it doesn’t feel fair and a bit of a rip off.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
My landline is actually a pest that lets intrusive cold callers bug my happiness 4-5 times a day so I’m thinking of getting rid of it and using the mobiles. Like everybody else I would still have line rental which I totally agree is a con.
Another thing that bugs me is that I have a poor download speed yet I still pay the same as someone down south with a must faster broadband connection. I really don’t think that’s fair either and charging should be changed to reflect this. Communities out in the sticks are subsidising others elsewhere.
Utility companies really get my goat.
greig12
We have thought about the same for later this year, do away with the phone number but keep the line rental for the broadband and I totally agree about the speed. During the day my broadband speed is ok but in the evening Sky Broadband drops off big time and these are the things that we need to get sorted in Scotland. It is so important, not just for mucking around but for kids and homework etc.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce
Virgin do a broadband only deal , plus you can add a decent mobile tariff to that and save some money . As a previous customer of Sky (14 years) and BT ( soul suckers , wallet grabbers ) Virgin is a little more expensive but its good value if you are a heavy internet user . Right now we have 5 mobiles , 1 tablet and a laptop connect via wifi , 3 xbox ones ,xbox 360 , android tv box and the tv all connected via gigabyte switching box into the super hub 3 , nothing misses a beat . Customer services better than you think . Speed test at 6pm 146 mps download 21 mps upload .
Ricky
I have looked at virgin before and might check them out again and see what they compare like. Thanks for all the info.
Bruce
I looked into this recently as we have mobiles and can go for days without the phone ringing, and if it does it’s scammers, only! If anyone we know gets in touch it is 99% not by calling the landline! But, as everyone else has discovered, basically to have home broadband, you have to have a landline and pay for it! We can even skype family abroad.
It is a rip off, as part of the bill is actually for the landline for the phone, or most of it? Anyone more techy minded could maybe say whether it is poss, and cheaper potentially to allow people to ditch their landline re having a phone line. If you look online, advice is, generally if you want broadband at home, you have to pay for the landline, like it or not.
hettyforindy
I looked into it also, couldn’t see much other than Virgin, as Ricky says, is slightly more expensive but has better download speeds and can have a lot of devices on the same broadband without too much issue. It does all feel like a con though, my relatives in the States don’t pay landline charges for broadband, only what they use. It’s probably built in to the cost but at least that seems more honest.
Thanks for commenting.
Bruce