Post Office Homephone Service to be run by BT.

hurrah · 18 May 2007 at 2:02AM

BT Wholesale have now been awarded the contract to run the service. Contract is currently held by Cable and Wireless.

http://www.btplc.com/news/articles/showarticle.cfm?articleid=%7bc7a819c4-a968-42c9-a53f-56b20f04ed39%7d

"The Post Office and BT today announced a new strategic partnership that sees BT become the provider of wholesale communications services to the Post Office for resale to its customers. In an agreement worth up to £750 million over the next four years, and the largest single contract ever signed by BT Wholesale, BT will underpin the Post Office’s ambitions to become a fully integrated voice and broadband communications provider.

The agreement provides the Post Office with a suite of broadband and converged services from BT Wholesale’s white label managed services portfolio. These new services will underpin the Post Office’s plans to launch a new and enhanced communications service later this year and upgrade its existing 400,000 telephony customers seamlessly to the new service. The service will combine high speed broadband and telephony, as well as customer equipment and applications such as web-based email and anti-virus protection. BT is also supplying online and telephone based customer service and support. "

utilitybroker · 18 May 2007 at 10:06AM

First it was Post Office Telephones. Then it was split Post Office( Mail etc) and BT(Phones etc). Now we are going to have the Post Office Phone Service run by BT.:D

I hope they sort their billing problems, out before moving over.;)

Kay_Peel · 25 May 2007 at 10:32AM

I'ver just received a communication from Homephone. Talk about double-talk! The bottom line is a price increase - but you'd be hard pressed to find it unless you went to the page in teh accompanying booklet, near the back. 'A small fee of 3p will be added to all calls that you make from your Home Phone Service except free calls to other Home Phone Customers and free calls during the evening and weekend.'

It says nothing about this in the introductory letter or in the main descriptions of the 'improved service' - it's at the back under 'any questions'.

I despise companies that behave so sneakily - but it's what I had come to expect with BT.

k

Heinz · 25 May 2007 at 10:37AM

OTOH, their non-direct debit surcharge is still only £1/month.

Drunkstar · 25 May 2007 at 11:28AM

Kay_Peel wrote: »

I'ver just received a communication from Homephone. Talk about double-talk! The bottom line is a price increase - but you'd be hard pressed to find it unless you went to the page in teh accompanying booklet, near the back. 'A small fee of 3p will be added to all calls that you make from your Home Phone Service except free calls to other Home Phone Customers and free calls during the evening and weekend.'

It says nothing about this in the introductory letter or in the main descriptions of the 'improved service' - it's at the back under 'any questions'.

I despise companies that behave so sneakily - but it's what I had come to expect with BT.

k

Correct me if I am wrong, but isnt this just saying that the PO will buy the service from BT before selling it on? In which case how is what the Post Office themselves decide to do, and how they tell people they are doing it, BT being sneaky?

utilitybroker · 25 May 2007 at 11:35AM

BT have not even started to run the service yet ,and as Drunkstar points out what the customer is charged is a decision of the PO, not the carrier.

The 3p connection/set up fee will only apply to chargeable calls and all evening and weekend geographical landline calls up to 60 minutes will be free,instead of the current 1p a minute.This is certainly an improvement.

Kay_Peel · 25 May 2007 at 5:38PM

My objection is to the sneaky spin. The letter tells me that the service is improved and makes no mention of the new 'connection' fee. In the accompanying handbook, the Post Office repeats the information about the improved service and again makes no mention of a 3p connection 'fee'. Turn to the back pages, just before the codes of practice (will people get that far?) and read about the connection fee in the 'any questions?' part. Look at the language used - 'a small fee of 3p will be added to all calls....etc.' Oh really - that's 'small' is it? It fails to answer the really important questions - what is it? Why is it? How is it justified?

I though the Post Office were more open and honest and straightforward about price rises. I prefer honesty. I don't like bad news to be hidden in the back pages. I don't like sleight of hand - that's how BT does business, not the Post Office. Or so I thought. Not now.

k.

billsavings · 26 May 2007 at 3:02AM

Kay_Peel wrote: »

a small fee of 3p will be added to all calls
k.

Chargeable Calls.

They have to pay for the free calls somehow.;)

Kay_Peel · 28 May 2007 at 12:05AM

I'm sure they do. I don't have a problem with that.

My problem is the sneaky spin: buryng bad news at the end of a brochure.

Shame on you, Post Office!

Bufflowbill · 28 May 2007 at 12:37AM

They are also increaseing Peak Geographical rate from 2.4p per minute to 3p a minute from 1/7/2007.

Post Office Homephone Service to be run by BT.

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