Unlimited Phone Calls & Broadband Packages: Know Your Options!

Which companies offer anytime calls with unlimited broadband?

Virtually all broadband plans enable you to make landline phone calls. For ADSL and Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) broadband plans, a phone line rental from Openreach is required, and included in your monthly tariff. Even if you have a direct full-fibre connection to your home, while you won’t need to rent a line, you can still make home phone calls via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Many providers offer unlimited broadband by default, unless you connect via a mobile dongle with a data-only SIM card installed. These tend to either offer fixed data or unlimited data with tiered speeds.

However, while many providers will allow you to make calls, these can be costly if you tend to make a lot of them. For calls to UK landlines and mobiles, most providers charge around 20p per minute, plus a 20-30p connection charge. This can get very expensive very quickly for true chatterboxes who like to keep in touch with their friends and family over the phone.

As such, you’ll need a provider who offers both unlimited broadband and anytime calls. So you can surf, stream, download and chat without limitations. Here we’ll look at what providers offer anytime calls with unlimited broadband.

How much does broadband with anytime calls cost?

The cost of unlimited broadband and anytime call packages depends on the provider and whether or not you want TV added to the bundle. Here, we’ll look at the best anytime deals from some of the UK’s most trusted service providers.

NOW TV unlimited broadband with anytime calls

As well as offering flexible TV packages, NOW TV also offers broadband and phone packages. Best of all, NOW currently offers unlimited anytime calls free for the first 12 months with all of its broadband packages.

These are as follows:

EE unlimited broadband with anytime calls

The mobile network EE (owned by BT and formerly known as Orange) also offers a combination of unlimited broadband with anytime calls. The basic broadband packages are outlined below:

There are two call packages that can be added on to any of these deals. These include anytime calls to UK landlines and 1,500 minutes to UK mobiles at £8 per month. Alternatively, you can add a package that also adds calls to landlines in 50 countries and 30% discount on other landlines around the world for £12 per month.

Plusnet unlimited broadband with anytime calls

Plusnet offers several unlimited broadband packages that can be chosen with either evening and weekend or anytime call deals. The broadband deals in the table below all include free calls to UK mobiles and landlines all day, every day. Fibre deals also include a £50 Plusnet reward card. You’ll need to look at their call tariff guide for international call charges:

TalkTalk unlimited broadband with anytime calls

TalkTalk’s unlimited broadband plans do not include anytime calls by default, although they do include free TalkTalk to Talktalk calls. Anytime calls can be added for a small extra monthly charge. Their unlimited broadband plans are detailed below:

All plans are subject to a £4.95 setup charge to cover the postage costs for your router. Call plans can be added as follows:

Unlimited UK calls

This package is currently reduced to £7 a month for 18 months and features:

• 1 Month rolling contract
• Unlimited calls to UK mobiles and landlines

International Max calls

This package is reduced to £6 per month for 18 months and includes:

• 1 Month rolling contract
• 1,000 landline minutes for 50 countries around the world

BT unlimited broadband with anytime calls

BT has a robust range of ADSL, fibre and full-fibre broadband deals that are detailed below.

Surprisingly for a telecoms giant, BT’s call packages are among the least competitive on the market. They are as follows:

• 700 minutes- This includes 700 minutes a month to any UK landline number or UK mobile, day or night for £28.10 per month including line rental.
• Unlimited minutes- This adds unlimited minutes to any UK mobile or landline day or night for £36.10 including line rental.

International packages can also be added from £8.50 per month.

John Lewis unlimited broadband with anytime calls

The upmarket department store is also a budding ISP. It has a modest but comprehensive range of plans, inclusive of free evening and weekend calls to UK landlines. These are as follows:

These plans include a free John Lewis gift card valued at £40-£75 depending on your package. To these you can add several call packages including:

• Anytime calls to UK landlines for £6 extra per month
• Anytime UK calls and 300 minutes of international calls to 35 countries
• Add unlimited UK mobile calls for an extra £5 per month

SSE unlimited broadband with anytime calls

Finally, the Scottish energy giant also offers broadband and call deals in conjunction with their energy plans.

To these broadband deals, the following call packages can be added

• Evening & Weekend: Unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK mobiles and landlines for £5 per month
• Anytime- Unlimited anytime calls to UK mobiles and landlines for £10 per month
• Anytime Plus- Unlimited anytime calls to UK mobiles, landlines and international landlines for £12 per month

What is the cheapest unlimited broadband and phone package?

With anytime calls included in all of its unlimited broadband packages, NOW appears to be the cheapest unlimited broadband and phone package provider. However, Plusnet is no slouch either, with inclusive packages from £23.99 per month. If you have a lot of friends who are with TalkTalk, they may work out as the best provider for you, as free calls to other TalkTalk numbers are included in all of their broadband deals.

What should I look out for when comparing broadband and phone packages?

While the packages above provide a useful overview of the market, they are by no means the only unlimited phone call and broadband package deals. At Broadband Plans, we’ll take the time to get to know your needs before choosing the perfect broadband and phone package.

But how do you know what to look for in a new phone and broadband deal?

Here are some things you should look for when comparing deals.

Phone package

There are lots of competitive broadband deals out there. But as more and more consumers, phone packages are woefully underrepresented by many providers, including BT who should know better.

You should look for a phone package that brings you more.

Inclusive calling

Pay As You Go landline calls can get very expensive, very quickly. What kinds of calls are included in your call package? Can you make calls all day every day, or are you limited to evenings and weekends?

Mobile and international calls

Some providers will add calls to UK mobile numbers, but not all. Don’t assume that mobile calls are always included or your bills could climb sky high very quickly. Some providers will expect you to add mobile calls as a bolt-on.

Likewise, international calls may be added as a bolt-on. Different providers include different countries in their international call packages, so make sure all countries that you need to stay in touch with are included.

Call charges

Some providers offer inclusive calls for a fixed period of time. But when that period ends, what will you be charged to make calls? As well as your per-minute rate, you’ll likely also have to pay a connection fee of around 20p. It’s worth taking a look at a prospective provider’s call charge tariffs before you sign up.

Setup fees

Most phone packages do not include setup fees. However, if a new Openreach line needs to be established there will be a setup fee of around £60 for an engineer to open up a new line.

Broadband deal

Of course, your phone package is only half of the deal. You’ll also want to know you’re getting the most out of your broadband package. As such, you’ll need to think about…

Contract

How long will you be expected to stay in a contract with the provider? Are you stuck with them for 12-24 months? Or do they offer a 30 day rolling contract? If so, how much extra will you have to pay for the privilege?

Will your provider guarantee that there will be no price hikes for the duration of your contract? You’d be surprised to learn that some big providers (like Sky) will not rule out mid-contract price hikes.

If you see a better deal elsewhere, you’ll likely have to pay a substantial termination fee if you want to switch. This may be a flat-rate charge, or your provider may insist that you pay off whatever remains on your contract.

Speed

Of course, your speed will determine what you can do online, and how many people can comfortably use your connection at any given time. Likewise, your speed will be determined by the kind of connection available in your home. 96% of households have access to a fibre broadband connection, but these are not all created equal. Fibre To The Cabinet broadband means that your connection is shared with other households, potentially bottleneck your speeds at peak times.

A Fibre To The Premises (FTTP) connection can give you ultrafast speeds and more consistent performance. However, these connections are only available in around 14% of households. Broadband speeds are usually measured in terms of download speeds and are split into three categories:

• Fast (10-11Mbps)
• Superfast (30-300 Mbps)
• Ultrafast (300 Mbps- 3 Gbps

Data limit

Most home broadband plans are unlimited. However, if you have a mobile data plan that relies on a data-only SIM card, you may have a monthly data limit imposed that could inhibit your usage.

Some providers allow unused data to roll into the next month. Others do not. Likewise, some mobile broadband deals offer unlimited data, but tiered speeds.

Monthly price

Of course, you’ll also need to consider how much your broadband plan will cost you every month. This will need to be factored into your monthly budget. As tempting as it may be to drop £50 per month on all-singing all-dancing ultrafast broadband, the speeds may be surplus to your household’s requirements, and amount to you throwing money down the drain every month.

Unlimited broadband and fair usage policies

You want to be able to use the internet without limitations. But it’s important to be aware that even “unlimited” broadband plans have their limits. According to Ofcom guidelines, broadband plans that are advertised as unlimited are subject to fair or acceptable usage policies.

In this last section, we’ll look at what these may mean for your calls and online activities.

Does anytime calling involve any usage limits?

Anytime calls are a great feature to add to your phone and broadband plan. It’s nice to be able to natter away without worrying about your creeping phone bill. But are there any usage limits to an anytime deal?

The answer depends on your provider and plan, which is why it’s vital that you check the small print. For instance, some anytime plans involve mobile minutes. Others don’t. Some anytime plans are not actually limited but have a finite amount of minutes (albeit in their thousands per month). And most are confined to UK numbers unless you’ve added an international bolt-on for an extra cost. What’s more, some providers may start charging you for calls that are over an hour long, so it’s a good idea not to lose track of time when chatting with friends and family.

Can I get anytime international calls?

Anytime international calls almost always cost extra, and different providers include different countries in their package deals. Very few packages feature unlimited minutes to overseas numbers.

Is unlimited broadband truly unlimited?

Even unlimited broadband deals are subject to fair usage / acceptable usage policies. While these will be functionally unlimited for the vast majority of users, they do have certain caveats.

These dictate, for instance, that you can’t be online, downloading or uploading 24 hours a day, every day. They may also reserve the right to slow speeds for certain activity such as Peer to Peer (P2P) file sharing in line with their traffic management policies.

All ISPs have slightly definitions of acceptable or fair usage, and you should make sure that you know them before you commit to a deal.

Do I really need anytime calls?

That depends. If you plan on using them to speak to friends and family, you may benefit more from an evening and weekend call package at a lower price. If, on the other hand, you work from home and need to make a lot of outbound calls to other businesses in the UK, an anytime call package can save you some serious money later down the line.

Which is the best unlimited call and broadband package for me?

Searching for the best unlimited call and broadband package for your needs and budget can be a time-consuming and frustrating affair. Fortunately, the Broadband-Plan team are on hand to find the perfect deal for your needs and budget.

Give us a call today on 0330 818 6395 to see how much we could help you save.

FAQ

Can I have phone and broadband with different providers?

In theory, yes. You can get phone and broadband packages from different providers. However, it’s likely to be much more expensive to do so. Virtually all broadband and phone packages include line rental, so effectively you’d be paying to rent a line from Openreach twice.

Can I keep my phone number if I switch broadband provider?

Yes, absolutely. Just let your new provider know when you check out online. Or, if you’re switching through us, let us know and we’ll ensure that your new provider gets your new account set up with your existing number.

Should I get anytime or evening and weekend calls?

That depends on your provider, your plan, and when you make the most calls. If it’s for social calls, you may be better off with an evening and weekend plan unless the difference in cost to an anytime plan is fairly negligible. If you need to make a lot of calls while working or running a business from home, an anytime package will give you better value for money.

How much does unlimited broadband with anytime calls cost?

By rule of thumb, adding an anytime call plan to your broadband package will add between £8 and £15 to your monthly broadband bill. However, some providers like NOW currently include anytime calls with all their broadband deals at no extra cost.