TIME TO RING THE CHANGES

Is it still worth having a landline?

More than a third of British people ignore their home phone when it rings, expecting it to be a sales or nuisance call, and 28 per cent of us can’t even remember the number, according to research by Relish broadband.

Why then do we cling to the landline, when so many of us have mobiles? Rental – about £18 for BT – is charged for landlines and calls are also likely to be more expensive than packages offered by mobile phone providers.

Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at comparison website uSwitch. com, says: ‘If you have decent reception at home, the answer could be to let the landline go.’

However, before you take the plunge, use this checklist to help you decide:

Keep your landline if…

• your mobile signal is unreliable. • construction materials in your home, such as iron girders, affect mobile signal strength.

• if you want to enhance your credit record. A fixed line gives proof of where you live.

• you make a lot of calls to family and friends abroad – usually cheaper on a landline.

Cancel it if…

• your home has access to fibreoptic cables – you shouldn’t need a landline for the internet. But if your phone still relies on copper wires seek technical advice.

• you have high-speed internet at home. Use this instead to make calls through VoIP (voice over internet protocol), as Skype does. Or use Facebook calls or Apple Facetime.

• you want to avoid receiving unsolicited calls.