Ditch BT And Save £118 A Year

If you're one of the millions of Brits who get broadband through a BT landline, here's how you could save over £100 a year without getting rid of your home phone.

Over the past few months, I've highlighted how broadband alternatives such as a dongle could save you £203 a year when compared to a BT landline, together with an idea of which dongle might be the best for you.

But what if you want to save money on broadband but are not prepared to give up your landline?

The truth is, for many of us (myself included), the landline is still very much a part of our daily lives, and although I seldom use mine to make calls, I would still feel slightly at sea without one.

In addition, having a landline could also improve your credit worthiness, and could up your chances of being able to borrow money.

However, if you're one of either the 15.8 million customers paying for a BT landline, plus a separate fee to another broadband provider (such as Sky or AOL), or one of BT's 4.4 million own broadband customers, you are in effect paying twice for a single broadband connection.

This is because not only do you have to fork out £10.50 a month for BT line rental, but you pay an additional monthly fee for your broadband, which can cost anything from around £10 - £20 a month.

But by ditching BT and switching to a broadband provider which offers its own landline service, you could save a lot of money by removing BT from the equation. The whole process is generally quite smooth, and in most cases you can keep your existing phone number.

Here's a comparison of four alternative providers, together with what you'd pay with BT:

*Assumes you opt for paperless billing and pay by direct debit.

**Purchasing a wireless router is not compulsory with TalkTalk, and if you don't need it, it provides the cheapest option, (saving you £99.60 when compared to BT).

Even on first glance, all four alternative providers prove cheaper than BT - in one case by nearly £100 over a year. However, many of the deals include introductory deals which distort the true cost of each plan.

So for a more realistic comparison, here's how the providers size up over two years:

As you can see, over time the cost of a BT line proves expensive when compared to other providers.

Tiscali is definitely the best value on paper. Not only does its Option 1 plan include 8Mb broadband, unlimited usage and free phone line rental for £14.99 a month, but it also gives you free UK landline calls and even international calls to some countries on weekends.

When you consider standard BT landline rental alone will set you back £10.50 every month (£11.75 if you don't pay by direct debit), and standard broadband will cost you another £15.99 on top, the difference in price is clear.

So, by switching to Tiscali, not only do you get more for your money, but you could save £118.44 a year when compared to BT. Over several years, the savings will add up.

However, a word of warning. I have heard from several sources that Tiscali's customer service leaves a lot to be desired, and you only have to type in the words 'Tiscali customer service' into Google to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

One of my colleagues couldn't wait to tell me about the pain he went through when switching from BT to Tiscali. He was left with no broadband for three weeks and a very long phone bill, as he tried in vain to resolve the problems he was having with the switch over.

There are also other points to consider. For example, if you are already an Orange customer with an 18 or 24 month mobile phone contract, Orange will cut the price of your broadband to just £17 a month instead of the usual £24.

This means the cost over two years drops to £408, taking your overall savings when compared to BT to £203.64 - sliding it into second spot behind Tiscali in terms of value.

One other point is that if you do have friends or relatives overseas you speak to regularly, check whether calls to those countries are included free with your plan.

For example, if i had relatives in Sweden and Belgium, calls via my TalkTalk phone line would be free, whereas I would have to pay for them if I opted for the Tiscali service.

So even though TalkTalk proves more expensive over two years than its rival, it may prove better value overall.

I would love to hear experiences from fellow Fools about Tiscali, and other providers which bypass BT. Tales of customer service and broadband speeds are especially welcome. You guys make all the difference!

At the end of the day, switching may seem like more hassle than it's worth, and in terms of convenience, getting all your services from BT may seem the sensible option.

But considering what you could save both in the short and long term with an alternative provider, when you add up all the numbers, it may be a switch well worth doing.

More: Save £240 A Year With A Broadband Bundle / Save £203 A Year With A Dongle