Altnet Broadband ISP Toob Adopts Phonely VoIP Service for UK Digital Phone
Hampshire-based alternative network and UK ISP toob, which has built a gigabit speed Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband network across parts of South England and also harnesses CityFibre’s network in other areas, has today agreed a new partnership to offer a digital landline service via Phonely’s VoIP platform.
Under the agreement, new and existing customers will be referred to Phonely’s UK-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) if they need a home phone service. The service itself claims to offer crystal-clear call quality, advanced calling features (e.g. scam protection, automatic call blocking, call forwarding via the Phonely app etc.) and flexible package options.
Customers of the service will be able to keep their existing phone number, allowing them to upgrade without disrupting how people reach them. Phonely is now available to toob customers at an add-on price via the Phonely website, with VoIP packages starting from £9.97 a month, depending on customers’ needs.
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Nick Parbutt, toob CEO and Founder, said:
“Delivering reliable, affordable connectivity is at the forefront of everything we do at toob. By partnering with Phonely, we can ensure customers wanting voice services are supported by a trusted provider while we remain focused on what we do best – delivering award-winning broadband.”
The alternative network operator is currently being financed through equity from funds managed and advised by the Amber Infrastructure Group, as well as a large amount of debt financing provided by Ares Management’s Infrastructure Debt (here). At the end of 2024 this mix of equity and debt reflected a total commitment of £395 million.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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If I can get unlimited calls on my mobile for half that price I would say these VOIP packages are very poor value for money. For those who are a bit tech savy unless you make lots of calls on your landline you would be better off with Andrews & Arnold pay as go service £1.56 per month plus 1.5ppm to landlines & 4ppm to mobiles.
I get what you’re saying, but it really comes down to usage.
A&A’s PAYG looks cheap upfront, but there’s a £12 porting fee and £1.80 per month line rental. If someone used it as a true like-for-like replacement (around 2,000 mins to landlines and 2,000 mins to mobiles), that’s roughly £110 a month just in call charges. Compared to £14.98 unlimited with no porting fee, that’s a big difference.
Even at much lower usage, around 500 minutes total per month is enough to push PAYG above the unlimited price. It really depends whether the landline barely gets used or is actually relied on.
For most people now their mobile is the main line and the landline is only really an emergency backup. In fact most people I know have dropped the landline altogether when going over to FTTP. The A&A porting fee is a one off and is insignificant spread over 2 years. The fact is you can get an unlimited call SIM for a fiver a month so why is VoIP so much more expensive? Even if you are in a bad mobile reception area you can still use voice over WiFi.
I wish they would allow the porting of home numbers to mobile networks, at least then I could port mine and just setup a GSM2SIP adapter or something.
I can think of potential solutions, but all of them have issues one way or another.
My parents are using Phonely… so far so good (it’s been 2 years now). At first I tired to convince them to use a mobile but I lost that fight. They love their good old landline and they don’t mind a fixed monthly payment which is not that big compared to others.
@Big Dave: You are extending the same “landline is obsolete” argument – which is true in many cases. But for the many people who need a stable, recognised landline number (for work, services, elderly relatives, directories, medical alerts, etc.) a flat-rate VoIP package like Phonely can be highly suitable and you’ll find some of them willing to switch from their voice provider. I did a quick search and Phonely looks like a well-reviewed mid-tier VoIP provider and hopefully the number portings will go well.
@Big Dave: The A&A prices look very reasonable, even taking into account the £12 setup. Do you need an ATA adapter for this service? I see they seem to be pushing a Yealink Phone which is over a £100. From your previous posts on this subject you will have first hand experience and be in the know. Thanks
I bought a Grandstream HT802 ATA off Ebay which which was less than £40 brand new. I also did buy a Yealink T31P VOIP phone for my desk which was again less than £40 from Amazon. You don’t need to buy the gear from them but if you do they will preconfigure it before sending it to you. Setting up Voip adapters & phones is quite an involved job (you will also need to set SIP & RTP port forwarding in your router). It’s quite a steep learning curve if you’re not used to setting up SIP VOIP systems but good fun if you like fiddling with this stuff.