Vodafone have recently announced they will be ‘abolishing’ line rental charges for fibre broadband packages - by merging broadband and line rental into a single monthly cost.
This comes ahead of the upcoming ASA ruling, stating that providers must include the cost of line rental far more clearly in their advertising. This will likely put other broadband providers under pressure to follow suit early, as Vodafone get a head start. Discussions to date suggest that at least two other providers are also planning on moving early.
It is worth noting however, that the ASA ruling also stipulates any upfront costs need to be prominent, adjacent to the headline monthly price. Whilst Vodafone disclose this with the £49 Connection Fee, it is worth considering there may be an additional £60 Engineer Visit to have a new line / number, that is disclosed later in the journey. It will be interesting to see how they and other providers accommodate this after the change on the 31 Oct.
- Mark Irwin, MD, broadbandchoices
