Phone companies face ban on charging broadband customers for line rental as part of their deal if they never use their landline 

  • One in five customers do not use landlines but still pay for line rentals
  • Culture Minister writes to BT, virgin, Sky and TalkTalk for urgent talks
  • Ed Vaizey describes it as an 'analogue billing system in a digital world'
  • He admits change could mean price of broadband packages goes up

By Gerri Peev, Political Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published: | Updated:

Phone companies could be banned from charging for landlines under proposals unveiled by Ed Vaizey, the Culture Minister.

He accused BT and other telecommunications providers of charging households for landlines that they often did not use.

Householders are often made to pay around £25 a month for landlines even if they do not make calls on them as part of broadband packages.

Culture Minister: Phone companies could be banned from charging for landlines under proposals unveiled by Ed Vaizey, who accused telecom providers of charging households for landlines that they often did not use

Culture Minister: Phone companies could be banned from charging for landlines under proposals unveiled by Ed Vaizey, who accused telecom providers of charging households for landlines that they often did not use

One in five customers do not use landlines but still pay for line rentals.

Mr Vaizey has written to BT, Virgin, Sky and TalkTalk to call for urgent talks. He described it as an ‘analogue billing system in a digital world’.

‘You get these headline prices which are misleading,’ he told the Telegraph. ‘ People should pay for what they use.’ 

He added: ‘Some people want to get rid of their landline entirely and pay for their broadband.’

Picking up: Householders are often made to pay around £25 a month for landlines even if they do not make calls on them as part of broadband packages (file picture)

Picking up: Householders are often made to pay around £25 a month for landlines even if they do not make calls on them as part of broadband packages (file picture)

However he conceded it could mean the price of broadband packages goes up overall.

People should pay for what they use
Culture Minister Ed Vaizey

Mr Vaizey said it was ‘fine’ for providers to come up with different pricing structures as long as customers could see what they were paying for.

Ofcom, the industry watchdog, has vowed to work with the Advertising Standards Authority to make providers more transparent about pricing.

BT insiders suggested that the company could simply include the landline price in its broadband package.

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