Alternative to BT line

koru

I need a second voice phone line for my business. Is there anyone other than BT who is yet in the business of installing lines?

I'm not on cable (NTL stop about 3 houses away from me). I don't want to use a mobile, because it will cost a fortune for people to phone me. I suspect BT are my only option (I imagine there are alternatives in London, but I'm in a town in Hertfordshire.)

Steve_xx

Go with BT for your exchange line. You can then use other carriers to route your calls. If you use another carrier, ie cable for your exchange line then you will more than likely find that they don't allow you to route your calls through other carriers.

Only BT in the UK, by the terms of its licence, is forced to allow other carriers to use its exchange lines.

koru

Thanks, Steve.

I have, however, found that I can get NTL installed after all. I have a shared driveway, and I simply need permission from my neighbour, which should be OK.

The weird thing is, NTL will have to dig about 30 ft to put a cable in, yet they will not charge me for installation. BT, on the other hand, presumably have to flick a few switches, for which they would charge £75. And their minimum line rental is £11.50 vs £9.50 for NTL. I tried calling BT, but they aren't interested in being competitive. They expect me to pay £75 one-off, plus £24 per year extra, for the dubious privilege of being a BT customer!

The only problem with NTL is that I have to dial a longer code to use 18866.

Steve_xx

OK understand - well at least you have established you can use 19966. But does that mean you will have to use the 020 or 0800 number to access 18866? If so, then you will have to pay 0.5p per minute for UK calls. I don't think you can get the 1p per call UK untimed rate unless you access using 18866 code............

koru

Yep. Good point. In practice, not a problem, as I can use the existing BT line for most outgoing, and use the new NTL line for incoming business calls (leaving the BT line for incoming residential).

Of course, getting NTL connection is dangerous, because its harder to resist signing up for Sky Movies etc.!!

Steve_xx

Good man - well sorted I guess......Steve