Confusion is rife in the home telephone market with increasing numbers of providers challenging the might of BT with cheaper calls. But navigating your way through the small print, advertising and multitude of tariffs is set to become easier.

Now consumers can log onto the UK’s first Oftel-accredited comparison service, uSwitch.com, to find the best home phone deal for themselves.

Andrew Salmon, uSwitch.com managing director, commented:

“Increased competition is good for consumers. But as the market opens up, it is vital that consumers are able to make sense of the plethora of tariffs – which at first glance can seem terrifying.”

“We can provide price comparisons for more than 20 different providers. Our role is to demystify the home telephone market by enabling consumers to compare tariffs at-a-glance. Our Oftel PASS accreditation means consumers can shop around - safe in the knowledge that we have met the regulator’s rigorous selection process.”

“The home phone market was deregulated more than a decade ago yet BT remains the dominant player with a 73 per cent market share. Why? Because the majority of consumers have never had anywhere to go to get impartial advice,” says Salmon.

“The majority of those customers could save money by switching to a cheaper supplier or a cheaper plan with the same supplier.”

10 ways to save money on your phone bills

• Are you getting all the discounts you’re entitled to?
  If you are a BT customer then you are entitled to Friends and Family which offers a 10% discount on nominated numbers. Check your bills and update these numbers frequently.
• Are you on the right plan?
  If you are a low user then you may be better off on BT’s standard plan rather than any of the new BT Together options.
• Can you pay by direct debit?
  The cheapest way to pay is often direct debit. Eg BT, ntl, Telewest and Powergen.
• Do you make a lot of local and national calls?
  There are numerous tariffs that give unlimited free calls for a fixed monthly cost. Eg talktalk 70 Unlimited and One.Tel Unlimited UK Calls. This will allow you greater freedom to spend as long as you like on the phone.
• Do you make International Calls?
  You can make huge savings if you use a secondary supplier. Eg. A 3 minute weekend call to Autralia would cost 9p with GoTalk and £1.17 with BT Standard.
• Have you considered alternatives to BT?
  For BT customers there is now a method of routing all of your calls automatically through a new supplier (CPS) so you only pay BT for your line rental eg. Talktalk, Telco or Smart Talk.
• Can you use an alternative telephone supplier with cable?
  Yes, but your choice is more limited. E.g. Talk or OneTel.
• Are there any catches?
  Always check the small print as the cheapest per minute rates do not always mean the largest savings. Connection fees, minimum call charges, price-caps and billing increments all need to be taken into account.
• What about customer services?
  Oftel measures customer complaints for a number of the larger companies and publishes this information at www.cpi.org.uk
• How can you compare one supplier against another?
  Use the UK’s first Oftel-accredited home phone comparison service, www.uswitch.com It takes into account all of the hidden charges and you can find the deal that’s right for you. Best of all, it’s free.