Since moving out my parent 9 years ago I've never had/used one in the three houses I've since lived in.
I believe there's been a change in the law (or regulations) so broadband providers can't insist that you have a phone line any more. I'm sure that BT were offering me broadband and suggesting that I was getting a 'free' telephone line rather than bundling them up together.
In the end of the are providing broadband, if they can't make you pay for telephone line rental, they might as well throw in the phone line as you might run up call charges.
I get the impression that it was supposed to bring down the prices of broadband for those that don't need/want a land line but, needless to say, the telecoms companies didn't want to reduce their prices.
Don't think that's come in yet but I've also read it somewhere that the government want to scrap line rental fees for fibre. However, bet they get around this.
Just got a letter saying Virgin will go up by £3.50 a month in September, you haggle them down and they keep edging it back up again. I'm not in the mood but I suppose I need to ring the crooks again. It should cost everybody the same and be transparent.
OFCOM and all of us would love for line rentals to be removed from fibre, not sure any communications company would bother going through the hassle and expense of providing it if this ever became the case.
BT are experimenting with doing away with ISDN phone lines and going to voice over IP where you receive and make calls via your wifi, this will still need a physical connection but moving forwards perhaps not.
At the moment the big boys like Sky, Virgin and BT are heading to a crossroads. Already nearly everyone I know my age doesn't use a landline and given a choice wouldn't have one in the house if it wasn't for the fact one is needed for broadband and all that comes with that. TV and the way we watch content is going to shake things like the next premier league deal right up.
OFCOM and all of us would love for line rentals to be removed from fibre, not sure any communications company would bother going through the hassle and expense of providing it if this ever became the case.
BT are experimenting with doing away with ISDN phone lines and going to voice over IP where you receive and make calls via your wifi, this will still need a physical connection but moving forwards perhaps not.
At the moment the big boys like Sky, Virgin and BT are heading to a crossroads. Already nearly everyone I know my age doesn't use a landline and given a choice wouldn't have one in the house if it wasn't for the fact one is needed for broadband and all that comes with that. TV and the way we watch content is going to shake things like the next premier league deal right up.
I get fibre broadband (38mb) from Vodafone. There's no line rental, unlimited usage and it only costs £26/month (£23 for mobile customer). There was an £80 cashback sweetener as well when I signed up a few months ago.
OFCOM and all of us would love for line rentals to be removed from fibre, not sure any communications company would bother going through the hassle and expense of providing it if this ever became the case.
BT are experimenting with doing away with ISDN phone lines and going to voice over IP where you receive and make calls via your wifi, this will still need a physical connection but moving forwards perhaps not.
At the moment the big boys like Sky, Virgin and BT are heading to a crossroads. Already nearly everyone I know my age doesn't use a landline and given a choice wouldn't have one in the house if it wasn't for the fact one is needed for broadband and all that comes with that. TV and the way we watch content is going to shake things like the next premier league deal right up.
I get fibre broadband (38mb) from Vodafone. There's no line rental, unlimited usage and it only costs £26/month (£23 for mobile customer). There was an £80 cashback sweetener as well when I signed up a few months ago.
What's the 26 quid a month for then? Call it what you want but Vodafone will have leased the line as they don't own a fixed line network.
OFCOM and all of us would love for line rentals to be removed from fibre, not sure any communications company would bother going through the hassle and expense of providing it if this ever became the case.
BT are experimenting with doing away with ISDN phone lines and going to voice over IP where you receive and make calls via your wifi, this will still need a physical connection but moving forwards perhaps not.
At the moment the big boys like Sky, Virgin and BT are heading to a crossroads. Already nearly everyone I know my age doesn't use a landline and given a choice wouldn't have one in the house if it wasn't for the fact one is needed for broadband and all that comes with that. TV and the way we watch content is going to shake things like the next premier league deal right up.
The chap from BT that I did my new twelve month deal with told me that Broadband is no longer going to have to have a land line as mandatory. However, they are going to add the price of the land line to the broadband and you get the phone line for free - use it or don't use it, they still charge the same.
Was on the phone to Sky earlier tonight, usually each year I go through the process of telling them I want to leave then after a few offers I usually get a huge discount a couple of weeks after telling them i'm off which is usually enough to stay.
Tonight though was different Sky managed to keep me on for another 18 months and even got my fibre optic broadband back from BT too.
My package I was paying was £83.50 a month for the Variety bundle, Sports, HD and 3 Sky Q boxes.
Originally I was offered the same above for £65 a month on an 18 months deal and while I thought about it and prepared to decline they then also asked if i'd consider switching broadband to them so I heard them out and the same deal with unlimited 36MB Fibre Optic broadband was offered for £77.80 effectively only another £12.80 as somehow this would increase the saving i'd make on the TV package and got no idea how they were able to offer me all this £77.80 which is less than i'm paying now and including phone line and broadband and if I wanted to upgrade the broadband to the max package anytime it's only an extra £5.
Needless to say I snapped up this offer and saved the bother of the usual games you have to play with Sky to get a great deal. By the time I subscribe seperately to BT Sport I estimate i'm going to be saving myself about £25 a month.
But the thing that struck me the most was the manner of how Sky went about it, instead of making me 2 or 3 offers which i'd usually decline they just went straight in with this offer after I said I might be interested in broadband too, so unlike Sky but maybe they've finally woken up and started listening to people. I feel £77.80 a month for everything i'm getting and locked in for 18 months is a pretty good deal. Maybe it's because i'm a gold customer? be interested to hear what @JiMMy 85 thinks.
I have a theory - which is probably rubbish. It's that you get to change email address too. They then think that because of the hassle of telling everybody about another change in 18 months time, inertia will kick in and you'll stick with them. As i say, probably rubbish but Virgin recently dug up my street and laid cable and have been pestering me ever since. Again the full bundle with phone/broadband seems cheaper than a TV only deal.
Was on the phone to Sky earlier tonight, usually each year I go through the process of telling them I want to leave then after a few offers I usually get a huge discount a couple of weeks after telling them i'm off which is usually enough to stay.
Tonight though was different Sky managed to keep me on for another 18 months and even got my fibre optic broadband back from BT too.
My package I was paying was £83.50 a month for the Variety bundle, Sports, HD and 3 Sky Q boxes.
Originally I was offered the same above for £65 a month on an 18 months deal and while I thought about it and prepared to decline they then also asked if i'd consider switching broadband to them so I heard them out and the same deal with unlimited 36MB Fibre Optic broadband was offered for £77.80 effectively only another £12.80 as somehow this would increase the saving i'd make on the TV package and got no idea how they were able to offer me all this £77.80 which is less than i'm paying now and including phone line and broadband and if I wanted to upgrade the broadband to the max package anytime it's only an extra £5.
Needless to say I snapped up this offer and saved the bother of the usual games you have to play with Sky to get a great deal. By the time I subscribe seperately to BT Sport I estimate i'm going to be saving myself about £25 a month.
But the thing that struck me the most was the manner of how Sky went about it, instead of making me 2 or 3 offers which i'd usually decline they just went straight in with this offer after I said I might be interested in broadband too, so unlike Sky but maybe they've finally woken up and started listening to people. I feel £77.80 a month for everything i'm getting and locked in for 18 months is a pretty good deal. Maybe it's because i'm a gold customer? be interested to hear what @JiMMy 85 thinks.
With the ‘competition’ from the likes of Kodi I fear that they might have made 2 or 3 offers this time, they were just all so much better than you were expecting that you took the first one.
JiMMy 85 will, no doubt, have a view but I’m convinced that Sky will be offering the whole package and broadband for less than £50 a month in due course. Not only is Kodi available but there are going to be some serious players showing the football without a monthly subscription in the future. Sky’s model of ‘demanding’ in excess of £50 a month for football is going to disappear.
I have a theory - which is probably rubbish. It's that you get to change email address too. They then think that because of the hassle of telling everybody about another change in 18 months time, inertia will kick in and you'll stick with them. As i say, probably rubbish but Virgin recently dug up my street and laid cable and have been pestering me ever since. Again the full bundle with phone/broadband seems cheaper than a TV only deal.
I have the full bundle with Virgin and think they are excellent.
Catchup and OnDemand provide a mass of stuff to watch and the Broadband speed is superb.
Any problems we have had over the years have been fixed promptly.
If everything is working fine then Virgin is fine. You wait until you have any problems!
Maybe Mutts but is that any different than any of the others? I've been with Virgin for the last 6 or 7 years and only once did I have a problem. Sent me a new box the next day and all sorted.
I'm crap at playing the, "I'm leaving you!" bluff though, which I think they've sussed as everyone seems to get a better deal than I do :-(
I have seen their customer service drop to a terrible low - largely from their Indian call centres who I think are undertrained. At the same time, I have seen Sky improve. I am moving to Sky because of it.
The whole thing is an f’ing nightmare.....I know I want very much to watch The Ashes but I am full on Sky Sports and just don’t know how to get to view the cricket without significant extra cost?
I want to upgrade to Sky Q, but I have a recording on my Sky+HD box (when my daughter was a mascot at a match) that I really want to keep. Only way of getting it off the box in HD quality is buying about £200 worth of kit that You Tubers use for recording video games.
That said I think overall Sky service is pretty good, especially the apps and sky go on consoles.
Don't know if you sorted this @DessieValley - Was this at Charlton game? If so I wonder if @Ollywozere can save the day and provide a copy of the game / highlights?
Was on the phone to Sky earlier tonight, usually each year I go through the process of telling them I want to leave then after a few offers I usually get a huge discount a couple of weeks after telling them i'm off which is usually enough to stay.
Tonight though was different Sky managed to keep me on for another 18 months and even got my fibre optic broadband back from BT too.
My package I was paying was £83.50 a month for the Variety bundle, Sports, HD and 3 Sky Q boxes.
Originally I was offered the same above for £65 a month on an 18 months deal and while I thought about it and prepared to decline they then also asked if i'd consider switching broadband to them so I heard them out and the same deal with unlimited 36MB Fibre Optic broadband was offered for £77.80 effectively only another £12.80 as somehow this would increase the saving i'd make on the TV package and got no idea how they were able to offer me all this £77.80 which is less than i'm paying now and including phone line and broadband and if I wanted to upgrade the broadband to the max package anytime it's only an extra £5.
Needless to say I snapped up this offer and saved the bother of the usual games you have to play with Sky to get a great deal. By the time I subscribe seperately to BT Sport I estimate i'm going to be saving myself about £25 a month.
But the thing that struck me the most was the manner of how Sky went about it, instead of making me 2 or 3 offers which i'd usually decline they just went straight in with this offer after I said I might be interested in broadband too, so unlike Sky but maybe they've finally woken up and started listening to people. I feel £77.80 a month for everything i'm getting and locked in for 18 months is a pretty good deal. Maybe it's because i'm a gold customer? be interested to hear what @JiMMy 85 thinks.
Still think that’s too much. Without internet with Sky, my Sky Q package+ 1 mini (box sets, movies and sports) is £52 a month. Which is cheaper than your TV package which is 1 down from mine plus I have movies. Should have held out a little longer!
Moving shortly and not got virgin in area moving to as at present we have four multi room boxes. We would need sky to two different downstairs lounges as mother in law has her own room, where different channels would be watched plus different programmes recorded and watched. and at least one bedroom to have sky as well. Does sky q tick the boxes in being able to handle this?
Was on the phone to Sky earlier tonight, usually each year I go through the process of telling them I want to leave then after a few offers I usually get a huge discount a couple of weeks after telling them i'm off which is usually enough to stay.
Tonight though was different Sky managed to keep me on for another 18 months and even got my fibre optic broadband back from BT too.
My package I was paying was £83.50 a month for the Variety bundle, Sports, HD and 3 Sky Q boxes.
Originally I was offered the same above for £65 a month on an 18 months deal and while I thought about it and prepared to decline they then also asked if i'd consider switching broadband to them so I heard them out and the same deal with unlimited 36MB Fibre Optic broadband was offered for £77.80 effectively only another £12.80 as somehow this would increase the saving i'd make on the TV package and got no idea how they were able to offer me all this £77.80 which is less than i'm paying now and including phone line and broadband and if I wanted to upgrade the broadband to the max package anytime it's only an extra £5.
Needless to say I snapped up this offer and saved the bother of the usual games you have to play with Sky to get a great deal. By the time I subscribe seperately to BT Sport I estimate i'm going to be saving myself about £25 a month.
But the thing that struck me the most was the manner of how Sky went about it, instead of making me 2 or 3 offers which i'd usually decline they just went straight in with this offer after I said I might be interested in broadband too, so unlike Sky but maybe they've finally woken up and started listening to people. I feel £77.80 a month for everything i'm getting and locked in for 18 months is a pretty good deal. Maybe it's because i'm a gold customer? be interested to hear what @JiMMy 85 thinks.
Still think that’s too much. Without internet with Sky, my Sky Q package+ 1 mini (box sets, movies and sports) is £52 a month. Which is cheaper than your TV package which is 1 down from mine plus I have movies. Should have held out a little longer!
There probably isn't that much in it really given my bill will also include the phone line cost which with the Broadband would certainly cost more to add than adding Movies or upgrading the TV package to everything.
Yeah it's possible Sky may have offered a better deal but then again they might not have. I just got the vibe that instead of them offering deals they know people won't accept especially when I mentioned Virgin can offer packages without a phone line.
I'm also buying a house so got enough on my plate too without dragging it out over a few weeks to save probably not much more money and one less thing to deal with and a good enough saving made already.
I have seen their customer service drop to a terrible low - largely from their Indian call centres who I think are undertrained. At the same time, I have seen Sky improve. I am moving to Sky because of it.
Used Virgin customer service once or twice a year over last few years and have been excellent every time.
Comments
Lots of areas around my part of Cornwall have patchy coverage - and I can't always rely on a mobile signal in my own house.
Landline is 100% reliable.
Sky Q multiroom extra £12.
£67pm - can I do better still!?
5/6 calls back and forth.
£74pm down to £40.80 - full package.
BT are experimenting with doing away with ISDN phone lines and going to voice over IP where you receive and make calls via your wifi, this will still need a physical connection but moving forwards perhaps not.
At the moment the big boys like Sky, Virgin and BT are heading to a crossroads. Already nearly everyone I know my age doesn't use a landline and given a choice wouldn't have one in the house if it wasn't for the fact one is needed for broadband and all that comes with that. TV and the way we watch content is going to shake things like the next premier league deal right up.
Tonight though was different Sky managed to keep me on for another 18 months and even got my fibre optic broadband back from BT too.
My package I was paying was £83.50 a month for the Variety bundle, Sports, HD and 3 Sky Q boxes.
Originally I was offered the same above for £65 a month on an 18 months deal and while I thought about it and prepared to decline they then also asked if i'd consider switching broadband to them so I heard them out and the same deal with unlimited 36MB Fibre Optic broadband was offered for £77.80 effectively only another £12.80 as somehow this would increase the saving i'd make on the TV package and got no idea how they were able to offer me all this £77.80 which is less than i'm paying now and including phone line and broadband and if I wanted to upgrade the broadband to the max package anytime it's only an extra £5.
Needless to say I snapped up this offer and saved the bother of the usual games you have to play with Sky to get a great deal. By the time I subscribe seperately to BT Sport I estimate i'm going to be saving myself about £25 a month.
But the thing that struck me the most was the manner of how Sky went about it, instead of making me 2 or 3 offers which i'd usually decline they just went straight in with this offer after I said I might be interested in broadband too, so unlike Sky but maybe they've finally woken up and started listening to people. I feel £77.80 a month for everything i'm getting and locked in for 18 months is a pretty good deal. Maybe it's because i'm a gold customer? be interested to hear what @JiMMy 85 thinks.
JiMMy 85 will, no doubt, have a view but I’m convinced that Sky will be offering the whole package and broadband for less than £50 a month in due course. Not only is Kodi available but there are going to be some serious players showing the football without a monthly subscription in the future. Sky’s model of ‘demanding’ in excess of £50 a month for football is going to disappear.
Catchup and OnDemand provide a mass of stuff to watch and the Broadband speed is superb.
Any problems we have had over the years have been fixed promptly.
I'm crap at playing the, "I'm leaving you!" bluff though, which I think they've sussed as everyone seems to get a better deal than I do :-(
Yeah it's possible Sky may have offered a better deal but then again they might not have. I just got the vibe that instead of them offering deals they know people won't accept especially when I mentioned Virgin can offer packages without a phone line.
I'm also buying a house so got enough on my plate too without dragging it out over a few weeks to save probably not much more money and one less thing to deal with and a good enough saving made already.