Broadband firms face line rental clampdown

Household money

Updated on 22 March 2016 | 4 Comments

Government claims current charging model is "outdated".

The nation’s biggest telecoms firms face a clampdown on 'spurious' line rental charges.

The Government has said that too many households are charged for landlines as part of their broadband packages even though they do not make any calls.

Ed Vaizey, the Culture minister, has written to telecom giants BT, TalkTalk, Virgin and Sky to invite them to a roundtable discussion before the summer. Vaizey described the charges – which can set you back as much as £25 a month – as outdated and called for people to only pay for the services they actually use.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Vaizey said that headline prices are misleading. He added: “If the companies come up with a different pricing structure, that is fine, as long as [customers] can see what they are paying for. Some people want to get rid of their landline entirely and pay for their broadband.”

However, he admitted that such a move may mean prices go up.

The rising cost of line rental

Research from broadband comparison website broadbandchoices.co.uk last year highlighted that steadily rising line rental charges have been masked by falling prices for broadband services.

Since 2009 the average line rental price has jumped by a massive 56%, though the average monthly cost of broadband has fallen by 73% over the same period.

As a result, if you don’t shop around for a new deal every couple of years you may end up paying both a more expensive broadband price AND the elevated line rental costs we’ve seen in recent years.

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Improving pricing

Industry regulator Ofcom is currently working with the Advertising Standards Authority to improve the way that broadband prices are advertised.

A study from the two bodies published in January found that the current approach to pricing is “likely to confuse and mislead” people about the true cost of broadband deals.

Providers will have to meet new standards by 30th May.

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