Due to an ongoing rise in line rental charges, Telecoms regulator Ofcom has launched a review of landline rental prices.

Ofcom’s analysis has shown that the majority of landline providers have increased their line rental charges between 28% and 41% in recent years, despite a 25% fall in the underlying wholesale cost of providing a landline service.

The worst offenders are Sky and Virgin media, who have raised landline prices by 41% and 38% over the past six years.  

(Graph taken from Ofcom's site)

Around 10% of UK households don’t have broadband or television packages, and Ofcom’s analysis shows that the demographic most affected by these high rental prices are the elderly, who make up a significant proportion of standalone landline customers in the UK

Ofcom are now analysing the market in detail and, depending on our findings, we expect to publish a consultation in early 2017.

The good news is that italk’s line rental cost sits well below all of these major providers, with our phone only package just £14.99 a month, which includes evening and weekend calls as well as the landline. Check out the packages we offer to discover more of our excellent offers.