1 September 2005
The Post Office has cut the cost of its home phone line rental service from today, as research shows that more and more landline users are thinking of switching providers.
Reducing the monthly charge by 55p a month to £9.95, Post Office is one of a number of companies looking to steal customers from BT following a recent rule change imposed by regulator Ofcom.
Until last year, all consumers received a bill from BT for line rental, regardless of the call provider they chose.
However, while BT retains ownership of the landline, Ofcom's new rule allows its rivals to effectively rent it, and sell call charges and line rental in one package.
BT currently charges £10.50 a month for line rental, and the other operators are claiming that customers could save hundreds of pounds a year by switching to their bundled offerings.
Homecall, the Post Office and Onetel all offer a line rental service, with TalkTalk expected to join them today with a £9.99 deal and the promise of cheaper call charges.
For an extra £19.99, TalkTalk is also set to offer unlimited broadband internet access, as well as free weekend calls, according to the Times.
TalkTalk managing director, Max Alexander, said its new deal would appeal to "value-conscious families".
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