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Best Landline deal for single OAP?

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  • 04-03-2015 7:16pm
    #1
    BenEadir
    Registered Users Posts: 4,539 ✭✭✭


    Hi all,

    My Mum is a fit and healthy 81 year old who lives on her own and (rightly) treasures her independence.

    She has a mobile phone and uses it when out and about but her land-line phone is her main form of communication to family and friends. She spends an hour per night making or receiving calls from family and friends.

    She is currently with Vodafone paying €37 a month for a package which gives her unlimited local & national minutes and 200 minutes to 3 nominated mobile numbers plus she pays an extra €5 for 100 minutes to US landlines (my sister lives in the US).

    Vodafone just emailed to say the basic package is increasing from €37 to €42 a month from April 14th.

    As my Mum receives the state pension and gets some sort of allowance for use against her land line costs I'm wondering if the O&O forum is the right place to find out what the best deal is for a simple land line service with no broadband for an OAP?


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    #2
    muffler
    Registered Users Posts: 45,843 ✭✭✭✭muffler


    Sky have a decent package. For €37.50 a month you get unlimited local and national calls to landlines in Ireland and 20 other countries including USA. The usual 60 minutes limit applies so hang up on 59 mins and redial especially if she's calling America.

    No free minutes to mobiles unfortunately but that more than offsets the free calls to UK and USA which most other providers charge extra for.

    Just to note that your mum could also get free broadband with that €37.50. Its something that Sky dont advertise or tend not to advertise but you can get it as my sister just signed up for it a fortnight ago.

    The SW telephone allowance is no longer paid as far as I know although Eircom did make a small concession to their customers who had been receiving it but I believe that is gone now also.


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    #3
    BenEadir
    Registered Users Posts: 4,539 ✭✭✭BenEadir


    Thanks Muffler, I'll look into that.


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    #4
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,112 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    If she did have broadband and can use a computer at all, Skype is great, I talk for hours to my sister in the UK very inexpensively to her phone, and daughter in the US for free to her computer!


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    #5
    Jellybaby1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,108 ✭✭✭Jellybaby1


    Does the quality of your internet service affect the quality of Skype? We had to give up Skyping relatives overseas as so many things failed, sound, vision, connection, frozen screen etc. But our internet is bog-awful slow and we can't speed it up due to ancient dinosaurous telephone system in the area.


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    #6
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,112 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    Certainly the quality of Skype is affected by your broadband. We used have all those problems but since broadband has generally improved it is great. Talking to daughter in US we can use video, chat, send stuff to and fro, simultaneously and no problem. There is a small bit of a sound issue with my sister in UK, but she has a slightly dodgy bb provider at the moment. Its not enough to cause a problem but not as good as to the US.


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    #7
    BenEadir
    Registered Users Posts: 4,539 ✭✭✭BenEadir


    looksee wrote: »
    If she did have broadband and can use a computer at all, Skype is great, I talk for hours to my sister in the UK very inexpensively to her phone, and daughter in the US for free to her computer!

    Not going to happen I'm afraid!! She's just not interested in "computers and stuff" :o


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    #8
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,112 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    BenEadir wrote: »
    Not going to happen I'm afraid!! She's just not interested in "computers and stuff" :o

    She's probably wise! :D


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    #9
    cobham
    Registered Users Posts: 766 ✭✭✭cobham


    Consider getting a modem if on offer with a package. She does not have to use it but visitors might make good use of it... and entertain her with its wonders! A modem can be packed away its box when not in use. Just the problem of where to locate same when in use what with needing a phone line and electric socket adjacent.


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    #10
    Jellybaby1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,108 ✭✭✭Jellybaby1


    If your mum knits or sews or is interested in any sort of hobby, if she had internet you could show her some great crafting sites with free patterns and templates. Lots of advice on the crafts section on Boards for sites.


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    #11
    BenEadir
    Registered Users Posts: 4,539 ✭✭✭BenEadir


    I'd love to get her interested but she is really old school. She loves chatting to her pals, watching loads of snooker, tennis and any other sport she can access + reading the local paper. I've tried introducing her to some websites for interests she has using my own PC and laptop at home as well as a tablet (even easier to navigate etc) but she just isn't interested unfortunately.

    In a way I quite like that there is no internet available in her house as it forces the kids to stop playing with their phones and just interact when we visit. They always complain before hand and always say how much they enjoyed the visit afterwards :rolleyes:


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    #12
    Jellybaby1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,108 ✭✭✭Jellybaby1


    Ah then I'd leave well enough alone. She's much better off and has a richer lifestyle without the 'ould internet. And as you say, better for the kids too.


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