BT moves to stem landline exodus

TELECOMS giant BT is planning to stem the flow of people ditching their landline by launching a service allows them to switch between landlines and mobile networks on a single phone.

The BT Fusion phone would operate like a normal mobile phone outside of the home but switch to a broadband line once users enter their home.

Customers will receive a single bill for all calls. They will choose a package costing either £9.99 a month for 100 cross-network minutes or £14.99 for 200 minutes, which is cheaper than most mobile networks.

Calls to landlines originating in the home will be charged at BT's normal landline rate of 5.5p for up to an hour.

BT has lost thousands of customers who have dumped their landlines to just use mobile phones. The company has also been focusing on broadband to offset a decline in its traditional fixed line business which is subject to fierce competition from other landline providers and the mobile phone sector.

A third of BT customers make mobile calls from their home because it is often cheaper than using their landline.

BT Fusion will be launched to an initial 400 customers before being launched to a wider audience in September.

A special access point installed in the home, called the BT Hub, will switch the handset to a broadband line using Bluetooth wireless technology.

Ian Livingston, chief executive of BT Retail, said: 'We know that many of our customers enjoy the convenience of their mobile phones when they're out and about, but switch to using a landline phone when they arrive back home to save money or because they have little or no mobile coverage.'

The new service will initially be available via a BT-branded Motorola v560 handset. Customers signing up to BT Fusion will get one phone free.Livingston added: 'The future will be convergence. You are getting all the cost of the fixed line with all the convenience of a mobile phone.'

The BT Hub also works as a wireless router which gives the user access to PCs, laptops, games consoles and printers wirelessly around the home. BT shares were down 2¾p to 219¾p in morning trading.