Internet and Technology

BT’s line rental increase in April this year has dealt rather a low blow to ADSL broadband users as they are now obliged to pay £15 a year more for their line rental, as well as more for calls.

This in effect means that the cost of line rental has risen to £11.75, unless you pay your bill by Direct Debit for which the charge has remained static at £10.50.

BT has introduced a paperless online billing service in their effort to contribute to the environment. Less carbon footprint and all that! It smacks a bit of cost cutting but this is to your advantage as checking your BT phone bill online prevents that £1.25 a month creeping from your pocket. However, there is no need for you to use BT’s line rental at all as there are other options.

Get a broadband package that includes line rental

There are several broadband providers offering you either totally free line rental or line rental at a lower rate.

Those broadband providers with packages offering free line rental are Tiscali broadband and Plusnet broadband, together with Orange broadband and the Post Office broadband.

The money you will save by switching to a broadband package which includes free line rental is not to be sneezed at, bearing in mind that line rental will soon cost as much as £141 a year. There are undoubtedly far more pleasurable ways of using that £141. Just think of an air ticket abroad somewhere for the same amount!

Virgin Media is a provider that has no need of line rental at all as it uses its own cable network. This could free up the £141 saving to be used towards purchasing a broadband, phone and TV bundle as an alternative.

There is unfortunately no such thing as a free lunch since all the broadband providers offering free line rental packages stipulate that you also have to take out a home phone call package with them.

An exception here is Virgin Media, though even they demand a monthly fee for a phone package if you are interested in signing up for one of their broadband, tv and phone deals.

Get a broadband package with a lower rate line rental

Packages with cheaper line rental offered by some broadband providers could put an extra £33 a year in your pocket. That’s certainly worth a good look.

There is the inevitable catch though, as with these reduced line rental offers you are obliged to also take out a home phone package with the provider. You can’t take up the line rental offer with broadband only.

The budget broadband provider TalkTalk offers cheaper line rental than BT, as does the often slated Toucan, whilst slightly less expensive line rentals are also offered by Plusnet and Madasafish.

 Mobile Broadband has revolusionised the consumer and business broadband market. It gives consumers the ability to access broadband speed Internet where ever they have a laptop and a USB mobile broadband modem. But with all of the convenience of mobile broadband, it is important to choose the best mobile broadband package for your needs. Mobile Broadband packages are now offered from all of the UK mobile phone operators with many operators providing a vast number of tariffs. Because of this, it is important to consider the following criteria when looking to choose a provider. Contract Term Are you prepared to commit to a mobile broadband service for a long period of time? The longer you will commit to a package, the better the deal available. Most of the providers offer packages from 12 to 24 months. Speed of Service Do you know your key criteria for purchasing a mobile broadband solution? Are your requirements fairly straight forward? If your main need for the mobile broadband connection is just to send emails and browse the web, then your requirements for speed will be less than if you are going to want to download music and video. Mobile broadband speeds range from 3.6Mbps to 7.2Mbps. Coverage of Service The key thing to be aware of when choosing a mobile broadband package is that the mobile broadband providers use the mobile phone networks to deliver the service. Because of this, it is important to check on your chosen provider’s website to ensure that you are able to receive good coverage where you live. Sign Up Costs Some networks will come with a sign up cost. This will normally be associated with lower term contracts. Monthly Downloads As with speed of service, it is also worth considering your usage with regard to how much data you will want to download in the month. This is because all mobile broadband providers offer packages with download limits. These can range from 3GB to 15GB per month. If you go over your limits, some networks will charge you. Because of this, it is important to ensure that you sign up for the package most suited to your requirements. Which mobile broadband network to choose? All of the uk mobile phone operators now offer mobile broadband services. These include Orange, 3, Vodafone, O2, T-Mobile and Virgin. Packages vary from network to network so it is worth checking what will be the best package for you.