Broadband guide

Broadband and calls

Updated: Tuesday 04 January, 2011

By Editorial - news@consumerchoices.co.uk

Bundling your broadband with a home phone calls package means you only have to deal with one provider and can even save you money on your bills.

Broadband bundles

As increasing numbers of people have adopted mobile phones, home phone and broadband providers have taken steps to make their packages even more competitive - which is great news for consumers looking to add cheap calls to their broadband package.

BT broadband (www.BT.com) is one of the UK’s biggest providers and provides broadband and home phone calls to millions of people across the country. But you might not find that it offers the cheapest calls, which is why comparing providers can save you money.

A huge number of broadband providers have entered the home phone market in recent years, with TalkTalk broadband (www.Talktalk.co.uk) and O2 broadband (www.O2.co.uk) offering some of the cheapest calls and bundles.

But as with all bundles, you need to make sure that you take into account your total monthly cost as well as the price of each individual aspect of your deal. For example, your broadband package might cost £10 a month and your calls package might cost £5 - but your provider might offer you a discount for bundling the two, making it cheaper than some other suppliers.

Call costs

Whatever calls package you sign up to you'll need to make sure that you take call costs into account. If you've got an evening and weekends deal, you'll need to think about the cost of any calls you might make during the day

And even if you're looking at an anytime calls package, you might still end up making some chargeable calls to mobile phones or 0845/0870 numbers.

You need to take all of this into consideration when choosing a broadband and home phone package so that you don’t end up with a big bill at the end of the month.

Adding line rental too

Suppliers like TalkTalk, O2 and Sky broadband (www.Sky.com) use a local loop unbundled (LLU) network to deliver their cheapest deals, and this allows them to offer line rental too.

Comparing line rental and taking it from a different provider - or bundling it with your broadband supplier - could save you a little extra cash each month. For example, BT charges £14.60 a month for line rental, throwing in inclusive weekend calls as well, while O2 charges just £7.50 a month for line rental without calls when you take a bundle with its broadband - you can add evening and weekend calls for an extra £2.

The following table compare broadband and calls packages, showing monthly package cost, line rental cost and call charges. Run a postcode search with our broadband comparison service for packages in your neighbourhood.

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