The telecoms industry

With 170 licensed telecoms companies in the UK, the choices for the consumer are confusing to say the least. The services available also differ significantly from area to area. uSwitch.com is able to provide you with accurate, impartial information to take away the confusion, helping you discover which supplier is right for you.

Some home phone suppliers provide the physical line to your home, charging you line rental and call charges. These 'direct access' suppliers include BT and cable companies. 'Indirect access' suppliers redirect your calls across their own network and you pay them for your calls: you continue to rent your line from your existing direct access supplier. Wholesale Line Rental goes a stage further. Your home phone number and physical line do not change, but your line and calls are supplied by the same supplier.

Companies providing direct access through their own telephone networks include BT, Kingston Communications and cable companies such as ntl and Telewest. Those offering indirect access include Primus, First Telecom and Tiscali.

You can keep informed of developments in phone services by browsing technology press. We also provide lots of free, helpful articles about changes that affect you the consumer. To find out about new deals that save you money, uSwitch.com uses its expertise to provide a user centred home phone switching service that is both easy to use and comprehensive.

BT is currently developing its ‘21st Century Network’, generally known as ‘Next Generation Networks’ (NGN) by its competitors. NGN will allow the integration of existing separate voice and data networks into a much simpler and more flexible network. This will include VoIP, allowing voice calls to be carried over the internet at a significantly reduced cost. Phones with Wi-Fi capability and instant messaging services on PDAs will also enable people to make VoIP calls via public wireless access points. Watch this space for developments that will change the way you communicate.