Time up for BT?

I've had my Broadband from BT for many years now. They weren't very efficient in the distant past, but after an even worse time with Talk Talk, I tried BT again and have stuck with them ever since. I would now rate BT as pretty decent - except for one thing: they are very expensive. And there comes a point when you know you should be looking for a cheaper service.

Presently, after a series of gradual upgrades over the years, I enjoy BT Superfast Fibre Unlimited, which gives me an unlimited amount of Broadband (occasionally very handy, though useless when I'm on holiday of course, and I take a lot of holidays) and free weekend landline calls (which is no bonus, because I don't use my landline for telephone calls). The term 'Superfast' for the Broadband merely means that I can usually - though not always - watch a catch-up TV programme all the way through without it stopping at intervals to 'buffer'. So I'm happy with it. But I'm certainly not paying for anything 'faster', and will wait until the very best Broadband available just now has become old hat, and is offered at no extra charge.

What do I pay at the moment for my package? £26 per month. But that's net of a special £5 discount that BT gave me when I signed up for another eighteen months. So from August, the month after the current contract expires, I'll be paying £5 more.

The £26 per month is also net of BT's Line Rental Saver. Under that scheme one pays eleven months' line rental in advance, rather than twelve months' line rental spread through the year. This year the upfront cost of eleven months' line rental at £19.99 per month is £219.84. I've been wondering whether I should pay that - just as I always have in past years - or let it lapse, and have £19.99 added to my monthly direct debit instead.

Not paying £219.84 up front means that from May my monthly payments to BT would increase from £26 to £45.99. And then to £50.99 per month from August. Gosh, that does seem an awful lot, even for unlimited Broadband.

On the other hand, I can keep an extra £219.84 in my savings account. It so happens that most of my big bills fall in the first half of the calendar year, and that means my savings get very depleted by the end of May. It will be a most welcome thing, to have an extra £200-odd in the old treasure-chest. I will have to pay an extra £19.99 overall in the year ahead; but if spread out that would be £1.66 every month. Only a pinprick.

There's something else though. What is the point of giving BT so much money now, when I might kiss goodbye fairly soon?

For I do think I'll make the switch. Vodafone, for instance, are offering a near-identical Broadband deal for only £25 per month, compared to the £50.99 I'd be paying BT by August. The chief difference is that Vodafone aren't charging for line rental.

If there's a catch, it isn't obvious. So if this £25 per month deal is still around in July, I'll be checking the small print - and if it still stands up, I'll be going for it.

Mind you, I'll have a conversation with BT first, inviting them to price-match. The time for feeling reticent about doing this is long past. The market expects people to act like price tarts. So: can BT accommodate me? Do they still want my custom, or not? If not, then Vodafone await. (And, to add force to my bargaining, I'll point out that Vodafone already give me my mobile phone service, and seem eager to give me the Full Monty)

So, it's time up for BT, unless they bend to my will. I never knew I could be so tough!