Landline Rental - Why?

[gl556tr]

__All Phone Providers have a fee for line-rental. But why? These were lines that were laid by a public phone company many moons ago. There minimal, if any, maintenance on these phone lines. So, why can the follow-up firms in this free market be allowed to demand these jumped-up charges? It is quite a large percentage of one's monthly bill. I'm surprised that OfCom/Ombudsman Services Communications do not deal with this. Some European countries certainly do not have this burden. Any comments would be most welcome.

[bednobs]

if they got rid of the line renatl, they would just put their price per call up.

[snags]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-2820975/Call-costs-landline-rentals-soar-telecoms-giants-raise-prices.html

[Hopkirk]

BT have to pay for their silly venture into sports TV somehow.

[kjn2]

And there is a price rise AGAIN on the 1st December. If you are with BT you can pay yearly in advance and get a discount of approx £30. Every little helps.hear what you are saying and agree.

[Hopkirk]

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2334375/BT-pushes-line-rental-fee-pay-sports-rights.html

[Old_Geezer]

What was put down moons ago still need maintenance, replacement, upgrading, etc.. It's a fixed cost to the business, one they like to cover with a fixed charge to the customer.

[aelmpvw]

it's all down to man's best friend, mine included, that insist on cocking their legs up telegraph poles

[Old_Geezer]

The suggestion that the maintenance is minimal if any is unfounded. Telephone switches do not run themselves. I'm unsure which European countries you compare to, but the fixed costs still have to be covered anyway, one way or another. None are acting as a charity willing to collect less than is necessary to make the business viable.

[seadogg]

Too right Hopkirk, don't forget the cost of all that advertising in the press and elsewhere also- just like good old "British" Gas.

[seadogg]

In a perfect market OG, fixed costs alone would be costed in to the price customers pay. In this market they become a notional cost and they charge what the traffic will bear.

[Old_Geezer]

Any questionable investment into sports broadcasting, or whatever, should end up paying for itself or the company has erred and will need to fund golden goodbyes all round for the incompetent. The standing charge has been around a lot longer than Freeview channels that aren't free.

[HansUrbancka]

All landline phone providers are reliant upon the Cables and Telephone Exchanges which are in the hands of BT and have to pay BT for the services of maintaining cables and equipment within the Telephone Exchanges.

There's an old saying.....You get nothing for nothing.

Hans.

[mikey4444]

"There minimal, if any, maintenance on these phone lines"

As an ex-BT Engineer, I can assure you that the above isn't true, not by any means !

[gl556tr]

_Thank you **m4444** - which precisely confirms my basic reasoning. _SO: 1) why do land-line customers have to pay these monthly 'fees'? 2) Is there no means of organising a protest to "The Powers That Be"?

[hc4361]

gl556tr, have you understood mikey's post?
He is saying that maintenance costs are high.

[Mamyalynne]

gl, if there was indeed an opt out of paying and your line went down - have you the money or the wherewithal to sort it out?

[mikey4444]

gl556tr...perhaps I haven't made myself clear.

BT spends a small fortune each year, fixing problems with underground and overhead cables. Every time we have a storm, telephone cables are dislodged or blown down. The underground cable network is also easily damaged, by flooding, road works, etc. So a charge for the rental of the line must be made, in order to fund these costly repairs.

The same problems face the supply of gas, water and electricity. If there is anything else you don't understand, please feel free to ask !

[gl556tr]

** Thank you all for your contributions. There's no solution to this problem of the end-user being tied constantly to the fickle whims of providers. Only possible neutraliser would be akin to that of NetworkRail. **