Orange introduces inclusive landline to mobile calls

Orange has published a press release discussing their research on the lack of people using their landlines, because they want to make a call to mobile phones and are afraid of the cost.

Based on a sample of over 2000 British adults, the results were as follows:

• 29% refuse to call mobiles from a landline due to uncertainty about the cost
• 55% would use their landline more if there were inclusive minutes to mobile phones
• 74% couldn’t identify the cost of calling a mobile from their landline

The general gist of these results are unsurprising, and show a huge problem when you realise that over 40% of people are using their landline to call mobiles, without being aware of the cost.

As a result (or perhaps not as a result of this survey, because the survey was only very recently carried out), Orange are introducing a new package for their broadband/landline subscribers that includes 500 minutes of anytime minutes to call mobile phones on any UK network. That amount is doubled for anyone who signs up during March. The cost is £15 for the whole package, £5 more per month than the next package that doesn’t include calls to mobile phones, working out at 1p/min (based on the standard 500 minute amount).

While it does seem that Orange commissioned a survey to justify a pricing plan that they had already decided to introduce anyway, we do applaud the pricing change. The fact is that while its unclear which individuals will or won’t save money, inclusive amounts of calls work for mobile phone users because that’s an easier way for consumers to think about the cost, and there’s no reason why that doesn’t apply when they’re using their landlines too. It’s likely that the other mobile networks with home phone services will follow suit, but hopefully the likes of BT and TalkTalk will also introduce plans with calls to mobile phones.