Call Charges, BT Digital Voice vs A&A VoIP

Whilst considering how we are going to 'upgrade' t'internet and phone in one of our properties I was looking at phone charges, at present the occupant of the 'granny annex' has a BT 700mins phone only plan, but barely uses any of that, so when the fibre goes in was thinking maybe just have PaYG.
Unless I'm reading something wrong BT charge for Payg are extortionate, i.e. nearly 30p per minute is the only figure I can find on their website, is this right? I look at my A&A account and it's 1.5p/min at peak times.

See: A&A Voip call prices

You also need to buy the Voip hardware such as the Gigaset N300 and Dect phones, or an ATA with a wired phone, and supply power.

The present phone in the 'granny annex' will work with a HT801, the differance in DV vs VoIP 'line rental' would pay off one of those in around a year, but it's the cost per minute for BT which I'm struggling with.

Have you compared the costs for digital voice with another ISP.
We managed to get a calls included package at £25 pm on Vodafone.
Doesn't look like that's available now but worth shopping around.
Call plans are certainly available much cheaper than BT phone only.

I should point out, we are looking at BT purely so there is one point of contact if there's a problem and we are not on hand to sort it out, but this is looking like it might add £20 per month over using a 'cheap' ISP plus A&A for phone.

https://img01.products.bt.co.uk/content/dam/bt/store...

Although the above shows a 700 mins call package, when my parents contract came up for renewal (FTTP + DV) I was told only the unlimited call package was available. I couldn't convince Dad to move from BT to A&A for both FTTP and VOIP - and I understand that if I tried to move the DV to A&A it would have disrupted (cancelled) the BT FTTP (hence why I considered moving both to A&A)

Edit: I understand A&A view FTTP and VOIP as separate entities, so the FTTP (or VOIP) could be moved to another provider with affecting the other entity.

Edited by BarkingMad (Mon 06-Oct-25 09:07:43)

In reply to a post by Bushy2025:

Have you compared the costs for digital voice with another ISP.

Not as yet, was trying to keep it simple, so if there's a problem and we are not to hand the resident can contact any other of the family and get it sorted, the problems the resident can cause with misinformation is astounding.

30p per minute sounds about right these days. Maybe with a call setup charge too.

(Thinks: I wonder if Carrier Pre Select still a thing with digital lines? Probably not)

Most likely though, the best option is to get a mobile phone for outgoing calls. Plenty of plans available at £5 per month with 1000 minutes or more (e.g. Lebara).

In reply to a post by candlerb:

30p per minute sounds about right these days. Maybe with a call setup charge too.

(Thinks: I wonder if Carrier Pre Select still a thing with digital lines? Probably not)

Most likely though, the best option is to get a mobile phone for outgoing calls. Plenty of plans available at £5 per month with 1000 minutes or more (e.g. Lebara).

We've tried a mobile, getting the simplest Duro phone we could get, after months of grief over it we gave up.

Depends what kind of grief you mean. If the grief is signal strength indoors, then choosing a handset and an operator which support Wifi Calling should solve that.

If you want to get fibre+voice as an all-in-one package from a big name provider, then your other options are Sky, Zen, or Vodafone. I doubt their PAYG rates are significantly better than BT.

The grief is from occupant of the 'granny annex' who has a routine which is very difficult to change.

If you're using a VoIP phone, connected to your router by Ethernet, then A&A, as just a phone supplier, is perfectly OK. You don't need their broadband service. I use A&A for incoming calls only, at £1.44/month. Outgoing calls are 1.5p/min (max) for landlines and 4p for mobile calls. Nothing involves BT beyond the basic broadband.

Have a look at VOIPIFY - their rates are 0.5p/minute for UK. Plus a small monthly fee.

Have you considered Zen? Their digital phone offering is £7.50 pm including 1000 minutes to land line or mobile numbers. No extra boxes as VOIP is built into their router. You can also pair DECT phones direct to the router.

In reply to a post by cjn:

If you're using a VoIP phone, connected to your router by Ethernet, then A&A, as just a phone supplier, is perfectly OK. You don't need their broadband service. I use A&A for incoming calls only, at £1.44/month. Outgoing calls are 1.5p/min (max) for landlines and 4p for mobile calls. Nothing involves BT beyond the basic broadband.

Same here, unbeatable price and I don't use it for outgoing calls either, just the two people that still call on the landline number. Anyone with a mobile phone is pretty crazy to use a landline for outgoing calls, even at 1.5p/minute.

In reply to a post by kasg:

In reply to a post by cjn:

If you're using a VoIP phone, connected to your router by Ethernet, then A&A, as just a phone supplier, is perfectly OK. You don't need their broadband service. I use A&A for incoming calls only, at £1.44/month. Outgoing calls are 1.5p/min (max) for landlines and 4p for mobile calls. Nothing involves BT beyond the basic broadband.

Same here, unbeatable price and I don't use it for outgoing calls either, just the two people that still call on the landline number. Anyone with a mobile phone is pretty crazy to use a landline for outgoing calls, even at 1.5p/minute.

Voipfone is cheaper if you are prepared to have an 056 number costs nothing. Outgoing calls are free to subscribers on their platform. Now that really is an unbeatable price!

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

In reply to a post by kasg:

In reply to a post by cjn:

If you're using a VoIP phone, connected to your router by Ethernet, then A&A, as just a phone supplier, is perfectly OK. You don't need their broadband service. I use A&A for incoming calls only, at £1.44/month. Outgoing calls are 1.5p/min (max) for landlines and 4p for mobile calls. Nothing involves BT beyond the basic broadband.

Same here, unbeatable price and I don't use it for outgoing calls either, just the two people that still call on the landline number. Anyone with a mobile phone is pretty crazy to use a landline for outgoing calls, even at 1.5p/minute.

Voipfone is cheaper if you are prepared to have an 056 number costs nothing. Outgoing calls are free to subscribers on their platform. Now that really is an unbeatable price!

Indeed it is, but I kept my landline number I'd had since 1980.

In reply to a post by kasg:

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

In reply to a post by kasg:

... nested quotes trimmed ...

Same here, unbeatable price and I don't use it for outgoing calls either, just the two people that still call on the landline number. Anyone with a mobile phone is pretty crazy to use a landline for outgoing calls, even at 1.5p/minute.

Voipfone is cheaper if you are prepared to have an 056 number costs nothing. Outgoing calls are free to subscribers on their platform. Now that really is an unbeatable price!

Indeed it is, but I kept my landline number I'd had since 1980.

A&A are only unbeatable for ongoing rental of an 01/02/03 number.

To replicate your setup, a new customer to A&A will be faced with:
An 01/02/03 Number Setup fee of £12.00
or
Number Porting of a cherished number costing £10.00

Prices exclude VAT.. These one-off fees are free with Voipfone.

The possibility of needing to use their help desk is perhaps unlikely but are such calls free of charge? Also, can calls be made to other subscribers on their platform FOC?

Do you get voicemail without paying extra with A&A?

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

The possibility of needing to use their help desk is perhaps unlikely but are such calls free of charge?

It's an 0333 number so standard geographical rates, which is free for the vast majority (even the cheapest mobile deals include unlimited minutes).

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Also, can calls be made to other subscribers on their platform FOC?

Not as far as I know.

In reply to a post by trolleybus:

Do you get voicemail without paying extra with A&A?

Yes, comes through as an email, which I find very convenient.

Also, can calls be made to other subscribers on their platform FOC?

From A&A's telecom pricing page,
Calls to other A&A customers

If a call can be connected directly to one of our customers then there is no charge for the call. However, you cannot tell if a call will be able to be sent directly, as our customers can change call routing whenever they like, so you should always assume the normal call charge applies as listed below. Consider the free calls as a bonus.