'Outdated' landline charges should be scrapped

[Glenn]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35869222

[nowster]

Calls cost effectively nothing to the phone company as there is an excess of network capacity. Copper wiring and maintaining that copper wiring is expensive.

[Den]

How silly is this? Without the line you can't have the broadband, it's not just for making phone calls.

If you want broadband over a wire you should have to pay for it otherwise people who use a phone will get priority over broadband only users. 

[Simon]

I wonder if this is another minister trying to gain popularity with an idea which will never materialise, like the one who wants to cut down on the road works?

[Clive]

What a cynic you've become Simon.  I just don't  know where you get these ideas from! 

[Lance]

I think the industry needs to move to showing broadband costs inclusive of line rental, and then having calls or call packages shown as an optional extra.

[Glenn]

Show the charge for the line as a communications/data standing charge, as per electric and gas.

[Simon]

What a cynic you've become Simon.  I just don't  know where you get these ideas from! 

[Clive]

I feel I've taught you well.   

[Simon]

 

[mervl]

As usual a great idea for the big boys with their bundles viz BT, Sky TalkTalk. Perhaps not so good for smaller operators like IdNet that separate phone "rental" and broadband and depend on (what was once thought of as more sophisticated??? - sorry, wrong word there) customers who sometimes like to take them separately.

But who cares about them anyway?

Oops! 

[MisterW]

Show the charge for the line as a communications/data standing charge, as per electric and gas.

Yes, someone suggested something similar over on the PlusNet fora.

Maybe we should all pay our 'infrastructure maintenance charge' direct to Openreach and let the CPs/ISPs compete fairly for the products they're actually providing.

which elicted a response

an excellent suggestion and then we could report faults direct to them