Home phones

The cost of many calls to 084 and 087 numbers has actually gone up as Ofcom rules which are intended to make pricing more transparent come into effect, MoneySavingExpert.com is warning.

Plusnet has again been voted the top home phone and broadband provider for customer service, while AOL and EE take the wooden spoon, new research from MoneySavingExpert.com reveals.

Millions of broadband and landline customers should find it easier to switch providers from tomorrow, communications regulator Ofcom says .

Communications regulator Ofcom is forcing broadband providers to let customers walk away from contracts at any point if speeds fall below "acceptable levels".

BT home phone customers should check their bills, as well as those of older relatives, to see if they're unnecessarily paying to rent their handsets – some say they've unwittingly paid the fee for 20 years.

MSE update: Friday 12 June, 10.47am – since this story was published, Vodafone announced that from 10 August, its new access charge for 08, 09 and 118 calls will be 45p/minute, up from the 23p/minute charge it will be bringing in from 1 July. This will make Vodafone the most expensive provider in terms of its access charge.

BT has upped the price of its least expensive line rental for the third time in just a year, making its upfront-payment plan the most expensive among those offered by major providers – £50 more than the cheapest offering.

TalkTalk broadband, TV and home phone customers are to be hit with price hikes from 1 June, and the provider is scrapping free local calls for 200,000 users from 1 July.

BT has re-entered the mobile market this week with a range of Sim-only mobile deals, but the tariffs are only available on a 12 month contract and only its 7.6 million broadband customers will benefit from the cheapest prices.

Firms plaguing people with nuisance calls and texts face a clampdown by the Government as new laws taking effect from 6 April mean they can be hit with fines of up to £500,000.