Alternatives to BT

[dleather2 10]

I am moving into a new rented house on Saturday and want to get landline/broadband etc set up.

 

I am currently with Talk Talk but have been told that I cannot get it switched over as I would have to start up an account with BT who have now introduced a minimum 12 month contrct and a £70 cancelation fee if you end the contract during this time. So I thought eventually that I would just grin and bear it and jkoin BT. However they have now informed me that I will have to pay £125 to get it set up at the new house, even though all the sockets etc are already there. I am loathed to pay this, especially as it is a rental property and may only be in there for 12 months.

 

So what I am asking is, does anyone know of an alternative landline provider other than BT. I know there are plenty who can replace them (talk talk, virgin media etc) but you already need an active BT landline to do this. Are there any companies who can actually install a landlnie themselves?

 

Thanks for any help you can give.

 

Dave

 

P.S. I can't get virgin media/ntl as there is not an active cable in the area.

[Bago 10]

No.

For landlines, there is only BT or the cable companies which will have lines into a building already.

Kingston Communication used to have its own lines in a set geographical location, but I think Sheffield falls outside of that.

 

BT used to own ALL phone lines inside a house. It used to be publically owned too, I believe. It is only in recent years that houses had a cable lines put in.

 

Question BT what that 120 is actually for. If there is a socket inside the house already, then it shouldn't be a new line that is put in, but just a connection fee. I wasn't aware that a connection fee is that extortionate!

 

Talktalk and any other ISP providers do not own any of the phone line infrastructures. It is always based on either a BT line or a Telewest/Virgin Media line, as far as I know.

 

Plus... if you do have wireless, then maybe it is worth thinking about mobile companies' network like T-mobile. Whereby you don't need a landline, and you can get a mobile as a tool. Plus their "web and surf" packages mean you can use wireless hot spots around the UK. Which means it's portable whever you go and move to in the UK. I've been considering this for a little while too. I just don't know how good the connections are. I do know that a lot of people starts to use this kind of mobile/BB packages.

[dleather2 10]

Thanks for the info. I think I will ring BT back and demand to know why I have to pay that much. Then I'll look into alternatives if any. Sadly I fear I will have to give into the monopoly.....

[Ruff 10]

If it's a rental property then why not ask the landlord if they will pay the £120 connection fee. As far as I'm aware once the line is activated it is available to use for everyone in the future too.

[dleather2 10]

I have managed to avoid the charge. I went on the website to get the number and noticed a seperate number of people wishing to return to BT who had previously been customers or if people wished top switch their provider. I rang them up and they sorted it out. I asked about getting an engineer in and she said that they only needed to "flick a switch". THis begs the serious question of why the other man I spoke to said that lots of work was needed and I would have to pay £124.99 for that. Suspicious. Anyone in a similar circumstance should give this a go.

 

In conclusion:

 

Me 1, The Man 0.

[Bago 10]

Hurrah! Result. Now I feel like Anne Robinson on Watchdog.

 

It depends on what you said and who you said it to. "A new line" may mean connecting an outside line into the house, and I think this costs a lot more.

 

I was going to say to approach Telewest too. Cos I know that they have laid down a lot of lines everywhere...and it is always worth a check to see if they have increased coverage.

[Twiglet 10]

 

Question BT what that 120 is actually for. If there is a socket inside the house already, then it shouldn't be a new line that is put in, but just a connection fee. I wasn't aware that a connection fee is that extortionate! .

 

Apparently it is. We have two sockets in our house, both of which are connected to the same line (i.e. the same number) and both of which were in use by the rpevious tenants, one is upstairs one is downstairs. I called and asked how much it would cost to have the second socket reactivated and was told it would be £125 even though it doesn't necessarily require an engineer to come out. Rip off merchants

[Smithster 10]

Apparently it is. We have two sockets in our house, both of which are connected to the same line (i.e. the same number) and both of which were in use by the rpevious tenants, one is upstairs one is downstairs. I called and asked how much it would cost to have the second socket reactivated and was told it would be £125 even though it doesn't necessarily require an engineer to come out. Rip off merchants

 

Provided the second socket is still hard-wired to the master socket then there is no reason for them to impose this charge. When they re-activate the master socket, the secondary one will automatically become active as well.

 

£125 is BT's standard charge for installing a second socket, even though it could only take about half an hour. I know a lot of people that have been in this position and I have ended up doing it for them for a fraction of the cost.

[andco 10]

Sounds like a case of product mis-selling to me. BT are notoriously good at doing that.

[rad 10]

I am having a similar problem with BT - there are three phone sockets in my flat so it is obvious someone previous to me had a phone line installed, but when I rang BT about getting connected they said I'd need to pay this £125 fee even though there are sockets in the flat! dleather2, any advice fromyour experience? I don't even want a landline, I just want it for broadband access and that ain't worth an extra £125.

[Twiglet 10]

I am having a similar problem with BT - there are three phone sockets in my flat so it is obvious someone previous to me had a phone line installed, but when I rang BT about getting connected they said I'd need to pay this £125 fee even though there are sockets in the flat! dleather2, any advice fromyour experience? I don't even want a landline, I just want it for broadband access and that ain't worth an extra £125.

 

You've got two choices, get it activated and pay the line rental fee (around £11/month) to BT (necessary for all ADSL broadband), or get cabled broadband from Virgin Media.

[rad 10]

You've got two choices, get it activated and pay the line rental fee (around £11/month) to BT (necessary for all ADSL broadband), or get cabled broadband from Virgin Media.

 

the problem is them trying to charge a 125quid connection fee before I can even think about line rental-which seems ridiculous when there are phone sockets in the flat