Line rental price will increase on 1 December 2013

Sky�s line rental price will increase on 1 December 2013, but will remain cheaper than BT�s current standard monthly price (£15.45 a month).

http://www.sky.com/shop/broadband-talk/broadband-unl...

Edit: I see it's at http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/i/6062.html - but hadn't seen it in this forum.

Edited by Oliver341 (Mon 30-Sep-13 00:12:49)

Sky will be 5p less than BT's line rental, but will look like better value a month later when BT hikes it.

The line rental market seems to have gone the same way as the energy market (a cartel).

In reply to a post by pcoventry76:

which is a rip off for those of use who don't use it for anything more than support for broadband.

Maintaining the copper network and fixing customer line faults does cost money though, which isn't covered by broadband subscriptions alone.

I do agree though that it's disappointing how the large providers huddle around BT's line rental price like sheep.

And one observation is the number of people straining to hear noise on the quiet line test so that they can report a fault in the hope of better broadband speeds might mean there is a higher fault call-out rate than in the days when the odd pop was irrelevant with voice.

Now it could be said Openreach should be maintaining lines to avoid this, but that again costs staff money/resources.

My dodgy maths make that less than £4 per week. Went for two coffees in town yesterday, cost £4 odd, yet many people visit the cafe daily. I think my line which I use daily is far better value than two coffees weekly ... and I daresay the BT infrastructure costs rather more than an espresso machine

In reply to a post by pcoventry76:

So another 90p a month for something I have never used and never will.

You are renting the line for the provision of voice and broadband services. So you are using the line, just not for voice.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

In reply to a post by pcoventry76:

So another 90p a month for something I have never used and never will.

You are renting the line for the provision of voice and broadband services. So you are using the line, just not for voice.

Indeed. Sky have to rent the MPF (metallic pair facility, i.e. pair of wires) from BT Openreach, otherwise they have no way of providing service unless you are in an FTTP area (though wholesale FTTP costs more if not supplied with an MPF).

Sky could save money by not hooking that MPF up to a POTS (voice) line card in the Sky MSAN, but their costs for providing voice service are low for each user connected considering all the other elements are in place anyway. I suspect Sky's typically low margins mean even the modest profits from calls and call packages are vital to keeping the price of Sky line rental and ADSL / FTTx down, and Sky would be unable to offer 'naked broadband' (without voice service) any cheaper than broadband plus line rental packages.

In reply to a post by David_W:

Indeed. Sky have to rent the MPF (metallic pair facility, i.e. pair of wires) from BT Openreach, otherwise they have no way of providing service unless you are in an FTTP area (though wholesale FTTP costs more if not supplied with an MPF).

Sky could save money by not hooking that MPF up to a POTS (voice) line card in the Sky MSAN, but their costs for providing voice service are low for each user connected considering all the other elements are in place anyway. I suspect Sky's typically low margins mean even the modest profits from calls and call packages are vital to keeping the price of Sky line rental and ADSL / FTTx down, and Sky would be unable to offer 'naked broadband' (without voice service) any cheaper than broadband plus line rental packages.

I'm no expert but looking up MPF pricing gives me this URL:

http://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/products/pricin...

Which shows that MPF pricing hasn't really changed in 5 years?

Edited by deleted (Mon 07-Oct-13 14:41:38)

Rose from £81.69 to a peak of £91.50 and now back to £84.26 a year.

So lots of changes. The annual line rental saves are vary close to this cost once you add the VAT.

As the general public doesn't understand the difference between MPF and WLR3, the MPF providers can get away with using WLR3 wholesale price rises (or price rises from the major WLR3 based providers) as an excuse for their own price rises. With the likes of Sky operating on slender margins, this opportunity to improve their bottom line whilst being able to say "everyone else is doing it" is too good to overlook.

As MrSaffron says, there has been both upward and downward movement in MPF wholesale pricing, and the various line rental saver deals are not much more than the cost of MPF. With the consumer expectation of line rental costs being not much less more than the wholesale cost of the metallic pair, an MPF based provider in the consumer market might as well call the pair rental element of the broadband product 'line rental', put voice service on the line and hope they will receive some call revenue.

_{Edit: as indicated above}

Edited by deleted (Mon 07-Oct-13 16:52:45)

In reply to a post by pcoventry76:

Well will find another way to connect. I don't like this being forced to have a line [censored].

You should speak to zyborg47, he's delighted to have a transmitter on his roof instead of a phone line.