While many people now rely on their mobile phones to make calls, you can still using keep your home phone when you connect to the NBN. Home phone services on the NBN are known as Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone plans.
When you sign up to an NBN plan, depending on the provider, you'll be asked if you want to add any call packages. These call packages use VoIP technology so that you can continue using your home phone line.
A VoIP phone service lets you communicate with other people using the Internet rather than traditional phone lines. When you call mobiles or landlines with a VoIP service, your voice is converted into digital data signals that are sent via the Internet, in much the same way as any other upload.
Essentially, VoIP uses a different type of technology for you to continue using your home phone line when you've connected to the NBN.
While traditional phones and VoIP do more or less the same thing — allow you to call other people — the difference in technology has a few consequences:
Not all NBN providers offer VoIP options with their plans. Those that do usually sell it in one of three ways:
If the NBN has rolled out in your area and you want to keep your landline, you'll have to switch to a VoIP service since the telephone cables in your area will be removed in the near future. The exception is people with satellite or fixed wireless NBN connections since they can keep their traditional landline.
Australia has dozens of providers who will sell you a VoIP phone service with your home Internet. Many providers will offer a home phone line when you sign up with pay as you go (PAYG) calls, and the option to add on call packs if you think you'll be using your home phone regularly.
In this section, we're highlighting the VoIP services and deals from Finder partners only — it's not an exhaustive list of everything available. If you're not keen on any of the below providers, make sure you do your own research to see what other options are available for you.
No matter what NBN plan you get from Telstra, you'll get a home phone line included at no extra cost, plus the following:
When you purchase any NBN plan from Aussie Broadband, you can add in a landline number with a call pack. Here are the three options:
Home phone call packs are available on every TPG NBN plan except for its 100GB NBN12 option. This is what you can choose from:
If you purchase a Dodo NBN plan, you'll get a home phone included at no extra charge. Depending on how much extra you choose to pay per month, you'll get the following call inclusions:
The NBN plan you select with iiNet will affect what home landline call packs you can purchase. This is what you can pick from:
All of Optus's NBN plans have the option of a phone line for no additional charge. Call packs are as follows:
Whichever NBN plan you pick, you can get a complimentary home phone line with Internode. These are your options as far as call packs go:
No, you don't. You can use a regular landline phone for VoIP as long as you have a VoIP adapter on your modem.
Special VoIP handsets do exist, but these are a lot more complicated and are generally only used by businesses.
Don't want to pay extra for a VoIP landline? There are plenty of free apps and platforms that use VoIP, and you're probably familiar with many of them. These apps just need an Internet connection to get you talking:
Of course, some will charge you extra if you're trying to call fixed landline or mobile numbers, so they might not be entirely free. Many of them have the added advantage that you can exchange text messages on them as well, which a standard VoIP landline phone won't do.
Picture: Shutterstock
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