Sky is to hammer customers with a second price increase in three months, raising the cost of telephone line rental by 18% from £12.25 to £14.50 a month from December. The rise is so large that the telecommunications regulator Ofcom has said customers should be able to walk away from their contracts without penalty.

The latest price hike announcement comes a month after the firm's September increase in daytime call fees from 7.6p a minute to 7.95p, and a rise in call-connection charges from 12.5p to 13.1p.

The rise is enough for customers to tear up their contracts and choose an alternative provider: Ofcom rules state that if a provider makes a change to a customer's contract of "material detriment", they should be free to switch without penalty. Sky has confirmed it will allow customers to do so. Its website states: "If you are a Sky Talk Line Rental customer affected by the change above, you have the option to cancel your Sky Talk subscription without charge."

I only have a landline for the broadband. With all the minutes I have on my mobile, the only thing my landline gets used for is to record robotised ppi messages on my 151. Last time I looked there were 34 messages on there!

What really annoys me is that Sky advertise their TV, Phone and Broadband for £21.50 per month (yet you have also to add Line Rental which can be anything depending on provider and deal) So the package is not £21.50 it is a lot more than that.