Home phone line rental explained

For many of us, our home phone line is a household necessity but we often wonder how we can get more for our money. For this reason, we've compiled a short guide to home phones that explains how they work, what our choices are and how you can switch providers to start saving money.

How does home telephone line rental work?

Home telephone lines are also known as landlines; a landline can be rented from a supplier for a small monthly charge. Sometimes, suppliers bundle line rental charges into packages that also include other services, such as broadband and digital TV.

What line rental options are available?

There are three home phone line rental options:

• BT landlines
  You can rent a telephone line directly from BT and use the BT network for making and receiving calls.

• Wholesale line rental
  Wholesale line rental enables other suppliers to offer line rental and calls over BT's network; you will either pay one bill direct to your new supplier to cover both your line rental and your calls, or you will continue to pay BT for your line rental and pay your new supplier for any calls you make.

• Cable landlines
  Cable landlines are available to around 65% of UK households. The network is currently owned and operated by Virgin Media. If you live in a cable area but do not have a cable connection in your house you will need to get one installed (a small installation fee normally applies); if you do not live in a cable area then you will not be able to have a cable landline.

What home phone tariffs are available?

With a home phone line, you can choose between different tariffs. There are four main types of tariff available:

• Basic line rental
  With this tariff you pay for your line rental plus any calls you make. If you do not make any calls, you simply pay for your line rental (this is most common where the line is used purely to support a broadband connection).

• Evening and weekend
  With an evening and weekend tariff you pay for your line rental and for a few pounds extra you'll get free calls to UK landlines at evenings and weekends. Calls you make outside of evening and weekend hours will be charged at set rates.

• Anytime
  With an anytime tariff you pay for your line rental and for an additional payment of around £4 - £10 per month your calls to UK landlines will be free of charge at all times, day or night. Depending on the supplier, anytime calling tariffs may also include discounted rates for calls to mobile phones.

• Weekend calls
  With a weekend calls tariff you pay for your line rental and benefit from cheaper or free weekend calls (for which an additional monthly charge may apply).

If you are considering any of the tariffs that include free calls, then always clarify exactly what is and what isn't included within the free allowance. As an example, many providers charge for calls to 08 numbers unless they are freephone (0800) numbers (an exception to this is BT), so if you do call these numbers regularly you will have to pay for the pleasure! Likewise, you'll also pay for any calls you make to mobile phones.

When choosing between the different tariffs, also pay some thought to what time of the day or week you make the most calls. If you are out at work all day then there is little point in paying extra for an anytime tariff, when an evening and weekend tariff is better suited to your needs.

What if I make a lot of mobile or international calls?

If you use your home phone to make a lot of calls to mobile phones then you may find that you can save money by adding a discounted mobile call package to your account. Some anytime calling tariffs may include discounted rates for calls to mobile phones as standard so check whether this is true of the tariffs you are interested in.

You can cut the cost of international calls by using a secondary supplier (choose the one that offers the cheapest call rates for the country you dial most often). You may need to dial a code prior to dialling the international number in order to route through the supplier you've chosen.

What are home phone bundles?

Sometimes suppliers offer packages that tie other services, such as broadband and digital TV, in with home phone for one set monthly fee. These are known as 'bundles'.

The main attraction of bundled products is their cost and convenience. Bundling usually proves cost effective compared to sourcing each service separately; this is because suppliers offer savings in the belief that those who bundle are more likely to stay loyal to them for longer. Bundling is also convenient because it means that you will only deal with one company rather than several.

To decide whether bundles are right for you, consider:

• If line rental is charged separately, how much will it cost?
• What calling package is on offer and does it suit your needs? For example, if it offers free daytime calls but you are only home in the evenings, then you won't get any benefit.
• What are the charges for exceeding your call allowance?
• Would it cost more to pay for each service separately? Look at the true cost over the first year as this will take into account any introductory rates or discounts as well as any charges.

In the second part of our guide, we take a look at how you can compare and switch home phone suppliers to save money.

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