Lack of home phone usage among under-65s fuels calls to end line rental charge
The vast majority of MoneySavingExpert.com users aged under 65 would appear to be hanging up their home phone for good, according to our online poll, which follows calls for broadband-only customers to be exempt from landline costs.
Of the 26,182 respondents who took part in our MSE poll, which asked: "How many of your (non-work) calls made and received are on your home phone compared with mobile/web calls?", 53.4% claimed they "never or rarely" used their home phone.
That figure increased to 73% for those who responded to our poll aged under 65.
However, home phone usage is being partially propped up by the over-65s, with 47% of people in that age category claiming they use their home phone for all personal calls, while an additional 16% said they use their home phone for half or more of their calls.
In comparison only 2% of those aged under 50 use their home phone for all calls, with 51% claiming they either don't have access to a home phone or they simply don't use it.
With respondents aged under 25, 39% revealed they don't even have a home phone.
The news comes after proposals earlier this year by Culture Minister Ed Vaizey to exempt broadband customers from paying for line rental when they do not use their landline.
The MP is inviting BT, TalkTalk, Virgin and Sky for discussions.
The results of our home phone usage poll are as follows (percentages may not hit 100% due to rounding):
Landline use
Poll average across all age groups | Percentage vote |
|---|---|
Don't have a home phone | 10% |
Never or rarely use one | 53% |
Use home phone for fewer than 40% of calls | 10% |
Roughly half of calls are via home phone | 3% |
Use home phone for more than 60% of calls | 6% |
Use home phone for all/almost all calls | 17% |
Landline use
Aged under 35 | Percentage vote |
|---|---|
Don't have a home phone | 33% |
Never or rarely use one | 57% |
Use home phone for fewer than 40% of calls | 6% |
Roughly half of calls are via home phone | 2% |
Use home phone for more than 60% of calls | 1% |
Use home phone for all/almost all calls | 1% |
Landline use
Aged 35-65 | Percentage vote |
|---|---|
Don't have a home phone | 7% |
Never or rarely use one | 60% |
Use home phone for fewer than 40% of calls | 11% |
Roughly half of calls are via home phone | 4% |
Use home phone for more than 60% of calls | 5% |
Use home phone for all/almost all calls | 12% |
Landline use
Aged 65 or over | Percentage vote |
|---|---|
Don't have a home phone | 2% |
Never or rarely use one | 26% |
Use home phone for fewer than 40% of calls | 10% |
Roughly half of calls are via home phone | 5% |
Use home phone for more than 60% of calls | 11% |
Use home phone for all/almost all calls | 47% |
MSE founder Martin Lewis says: "Far too many people are held hostage by telecoms companies, forced to pay for a landline that they don't want just so they can have home broadband. Even the few providers that do 'broadband-only' services are more expensive than the bundled deals – so many now have broadband, pay for a line, but don't bother to plug the phone in.
"This is a poor state of affairs for a country trying to lead in the information superhighway. Hopefully during these discussions with the Culture Minister, broadband companies will sit up, listen and realise it's time people were allowed a broadband-only service, and ensure that by doing so they save money."
Culture minister Ed Vaizey has called for broadband providers to stop charging for line rental
Among those to have taken the poll, Pete comments: "I'm sure there will be a lot of people like me, with a landline used only to provide an ADSL [internet] connection. So I have a working socket, and in a drawer somewhere I have an old telephone I could potentially plug in to it. But I'm never going to do so except in very unusual circumstances."
Heather adds: "I never use my landline, I wish I didn't have to have it for the internet".
The results of the poll mirror those of a similar online survey we ran back in 2012, which found that 51% of all age groups among MSE users didn't have a home phone or rarely used one.
The 2012 poll revealed a whopping 80% of those under 30 didn't have a home phone, or rarely used one. However, more than half of those aged over 61 said they used their home phone for most, if not all, of their calls.
Have your say
Share this guide?
10 September 2024
Clever ways to calculate your finances
