What about my home phone?

When you sign up to an ADSL broadband service, your internet will be provided through a standard BT phone line. Having a BT line is therefore essential to this type of connection. Many ADSL broadband providers offer dual phone-internet bundles, in which they will either take over your existing phone line – if you have one to begin with – or have a new one installed.

Here’s a simple breakdown of your options for ADSL broadband in the UK:

• BT is your phone and internet service provider
  Your agreement will be solely with BT.
• Another supplier (e.g. Bulldog, Wanadoo, Tiscali) is your phone and internet provider
  Though BT’s infrastructure will be used, your agreement will be with your internet-phone supplier, not BT.
• Another supplier provides you with a broadband internet connection but does not take over your phone line
  Most of the best ADSL broadband internet deals in the UK are in the form of phone and internet service bundles – in other words, you get both services from a single provider. It is possible to leave your phone line with BT and have another company provide your ADSL internet over that line, but for most people this will not be the best choice.

With an ADSL broadband internet connection, your phone line will remain free to use even when you’re surfing the web. Here’s why: your internet service provider will pipe a broadband signal through your phone line alongside your regular old phone dial tone. Inside your home, you’ll fit a microfilter into the phone socket – with one end going to the broadband modem, and the other end going to your phone. Because of these different types of signal, and the microfilter and modem which separates them, you can call and use your internet connection independently of each other.

If you already have broadband and want to switch, or if you’ve selected a phone-internet bundle from another provider, you will keep your existing phone number. When your service is transferred to your new provider, chances are you won’t notice a thing – apart from your high speed internet connection of course. Your service won’t be interrupted, and your phone number will remain the same.

This is not as kinky as it sounds – but it is a term you’ll be hearing a lot more about. Naked broadband refers to the idea of providing an ADSL broadband internet connection without the phone line.

In the UK, landline internet access must come with a phone service – that is, you can’t have ADSL over your phone line without also paying for a dial tone. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services, some of which allow free computer-to-computer calls over the internet and ultra cheap computer-to-phone calls too, is beginning to provide a strong alternative for a growing number of people. Why pay for old fashioned phone services when you can do it cheaper and easier over broadband? Very soon, we may not have to.