O2 launches landline deals

Fixed line phone

O2 is taking on the big guns in the telecoms market by offering a landline of its own.

Announced today, the home phone deal will be available starting in March for those who use O2's broadband.

The "Evening and Weekend" offer will cost 9.50 per month with unlimited calls to UK homes on evenings and weekends. Alternatively the "Anytime" deal will cost 12.50 per month and allows any time, unlimited calls to UK homes, 0845/0870 numbers and landlines in over 20 countries. Customers will still need a working BT landline though.

A joint deal for O2's standard broadband packages plus Evening and Weekend will come in at 17 a month including line rental.

"This is the most important launch for us in the home space since we entered the broadband market and is part of our strategy to evolve beyond mobile to a leading connectivity brand ," said Sally Cowdry, UK marketing director at O2, in a statement.

"We know how many of our customers value the convenience of paying for their home phone and broadband together with no hidden extra costs," she added.

Extra features such as Hide My Number, Last Caller ID and Last Number Delete come with the packages and extras are available for a "bolt on" monthly fee Voicemail, Call Waiting, Caller Display, Call Barring and Ring Back.

To check if you can get the broadband and landline packages in your area, you can text your home phone number to 61202, call 0800 954 1427 or visit the O2 website.

In September 2009, O2 launched a business fixed line service working alongside BT Wholesale as part of a five-year contract.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.