Cheapest Home Phones Article Discussion

devilchef

Bt are due to put their prices up in december, does this mean i am able to swap providers to someone else without incurring cancelation fees, i am with them for both phone and b/band

Victor_Delta

devilchef wrote: »

Bt are due to put their prices up in december, does this mean i am able to swap providers to someone else without incurring cancelation fees, i am with them for both phone and b/band

Surely, it depends on the terms of your contract eg minimum term 12 months? A price increase, or other change, does not give you an automatic right to tear up your contract.
If in doubt, phone BT and ask. Who knows, they might suggest a better deal that you hadn't thought of?

V

Heinz

devilchef wrote: »

Bt are due to put their prices up in december, does this mean i am able to swap providers to someone else without incurring cancelation fees, i am with them for both phone and b/band

Unlikely. AFAIK, Broadband prices are not increasing so, although you might have grounds for cancelling your landline because of the increases, you'd be stuck paying for broadband.

And BT broadband requires a BT landline .....

passau91

Hi All

I've tried searching, but didn't find a thread which dealt with my problem.

I have moved into a brand new flat - therefore never had a phone connection. I have tried Sky, Primus and Talk Talk - Sky was a straight no, but initially both Primus and Talk Talk accepted the order, seemed to be going ahead and then phoned to say they couldn't supply the service. With both, they said they could offer me broadband if I was willing to pay an extra £15.99 a month on top of the quoted price, but I don't know how if they can't get me a phone line.

I know that (unfortunately) I am on a heavily oversubscribed exchange (Poplar) and even BT themselves cannot give me a line. They said that if I could not be connected to the closest exchange, they must offer me a connection with a different exchange - but at a much higher cost. I'm not sure that is even feasible, but I would not be willing to pay that cost.

Can anyone suggest any reasonably priced alternative?

Heinz

If the reason is lack of capacity at the exchange, that will be the restriction on all companies offering a standard PSTN line.

In that case, your only alternative is Virgin cable, if the area is cabled and if they are willing to connect to a new build (I doubt it).

passau91

Heinz wrote: »

If the reason is lack of capacity at the exchange, that will be the restriction on all companies offering a standard PSTN line.

In that case, your only alternative is Virgin cable, if the area is cabled and if they are willing to connect to a new build (I doubt it).

That is my understanding, lack of capacity at the exchange. Unfortunately, it is not a Virgin cable area.

This seems to have been a problem for a long time (I had a similar difficulty when I lived in Canary Wharf previously, which is also on the same exchange). I suppose there will be no improvement until someone forces the construction of a new exchange for these areas - more residential property is being built throughout the area, but without a new exchange to hook anyone up to.

Oh well...

useless_git_requires_wife

maz8184 wrote: »

Does anyone know if any provider allows a package without a year contract. I have a phoneline installed but not connected at present as I was abroad for a few years, the house was let and tenants didnt want phone. I am back now but only need a phone for a few months. Bt say they can only offer a year contract. Any ideas. Unfortunately I also live on a West coast island so not all services available to me.

Post Office home phoneline has no minimum contract.

Doc_N

passau91 wrote: »

Hi All

I've tried searching, but didn't find a thread which dealt with my problem.

I have moved into a brand new flat - therefore never had a phone connection. I have tried Sky, Primus and Talk Talk - Sky was a straight no, but initially both Primus and Talk Talk accepted the order, seemed to be going ahead and then phoned to say they couldn't supply the service. With both, they said they could offer me broadband if I was willing to pay an extra £15.99 a month on top of the quoted price, but I don't know how if they can't get me a phone line.

I know that (unfortunately) I am on a heavily oversubscribed exchange (Poplar) and even BT themselves cannot give me a line. They said that if I could not be connected to the closest exchange, they must offer me a connection with a different exchange - but at a much higher cost. I'm not sure that is even feasible, but I would not be willing to pay that cost.

Can anyone suggest any reasonably priced alternative?

I'm assuming BT no longer provide shared lines, which is the way they used to get round this problem, some years back?

Victor_Delta

Doc_N wrote: »

I'm assuming BT no longer provide shared lines, which is the way they used to get round this problem, some years back?

"Shared Service" was replaced by a 1+1 carrier system many years ago. However, these were both ways of overcoming line plant shortages and still required exchange equipment as both customers had separate numbers etc.

V

devilchef

Just found out that our bradband charges are also increasing from £28pm to £29.60...would that make a difference?

Heinz wrote: »

Unlikely. AFAIK, Broadband prices are not increasing so, although you might have grounds for cancelling your landline because of the increases, you'd be stuck paying for broadband.

And BT broadband requires a BT landline .....