Cancelling line rental and going Skype. Is this a good idea?

[hedgehog90]

My brother lives in Oxford and his internet's been cancelled by his tosser landlord who doesn't know what the internet is.
He lives in a shared flat with 4 other people, there is no phone but for some reason they're paying line rental (just for the old internet connection I guess).
I've done some searching online for decent internet deals and I've decided the best way for them to go is to get the 50/100mbps Virgin fibre deal (no phone, no TV, just fibre), bypassing line rental and all that.
It works out as being potentially >5x better speed and a bit cheaper.

I was wondering though... it seems a little weird to live in a building without a phone number, and I think this might put off the landlord.
They've managed without it for so long, it's probably not worth thinking about, but for curiosity's sake I'd like to know:

1) Is it possible to get skype handset/internet phone that works just like a normal phone on the cheap? It looks like most internet phones need to be wired to a laptop/desktop. Are there standalone handsets that just work with wi-fi? If so - are they easy to set up?

2) From the looks of it you can rent a phone number from Skype with the correct area code for like £3 a month, but like a normal phone contract can you also pay monthly for free weekend & evening calls / unlimited deals? If so, what prices are we looking at?

If they can keep their phone number and setup a working skype account without paying line rental it might help in convincing the landlord that installing cable is a good idea.

[Grass Mud Horse]

You can get VIOP phones that don't need a computer: http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/wi-fi-voip-phones-internet-calls-without-a-pc/ but you're at the mercy of your Internet connection dropping out, as they are wont to do from time to time. Mobile phones aren't that reliable a backup (for example, don't have any 999 emergencies on New Year's Eve).

I can't remember the last time I used my landline, but I keep it as an emergency backup, and Mrs Mud Horse does use it from time to time.

You can pick any UK area code if you pay your £3 pcm for a number. Not sure if you can retain your old number though.

It used to be the case that not having a landline number would put you at a disadvantage when applying for bank accounts, loans, credit agreements etc. as phoneless person = poor person = bad credit risk. This attitude might not be as prevalent now.