Extra phone line

declan_mac

Hi,

We've been staying in our current house for just over a year. As soon as we moved in, we realised there was an extra phone socket in our hallway. When we plugged in a phone to this socket we got a dial tone and could make outgoing calls.

At the time, I tried calling all the telephone providers, but nobody seemed to know anything about the line and none of them were able to identify the company who were responsible for the phone line.

I've tried dialling 150 and 151 from the line, but I get a message saying that this option is not available from this particular line and I'm instructed to refer to the instructions given by my provider. The last people in the house know nothing about the phoneline either, and they'd been here for over 11 years.

Does anyone know of any websites I could go to to enter the number and identify the company responsible for the phone? Or are there any other ways I could find this information out?

I tried logging a fault on the line with BT through 100 but it comes back and says it's not a BT line.

I'm just trying to avoid a hefty bill somewhere down the line when the company responsible finally track it down.

Any help - much appreciated!

Cheers

Dec

LeeSouthEast

Dial 17070 and find out what the phone number is.

If you simply get "This circuit is defined as xxxxxxx" and nothing more, it's an LLU line.
If you get (after the number) "BT line test facilities", it's definitely a BT line.

You can then start doing the LLU dance and find out where it belongs...

Rifling through here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/ioi/numbers/numbers_administered/data_download_files/s1_code is a good start. e.g. If the phone number is 01243 881123, search for '1243' and scroll down to '88' and you'll see that entire block is allocated to "Magrathea Telecommunications Limited".

declan_mac

Hi Lee,

Thanks very much for the quick reply. I just tried the number and I do indeed get the BT line test facilities.

Although BT denied all knowledge of this line a year ago, so I don't know...

What is the LLU stuff I should do next? Sorry, I'm a bit clueless on all this!

Cheers

Dec

LeeSouthEast

Post up the area code and the first 2 digits of the number, and I'll point you in the right direction.

declan_mac

Hi Lee,

Thanks again - it's 0141 63

Cheers

Dec

LeeSouthEast

"1416","30","","Allocated","","BT","3+7","07/1994",
"1416","31","","Allocated","","BT","3+7","07/1994",
"1416","32","","Allocated","","BT","3+7","07/1994",
"1416","33","","Allocated","","BT","3+7","07/1994",
"1416","34","","Allocated","","BT","3+7","07/1994",
"1416","35","","Allocated","","Telecoms World Plc","3+7","03/2009","F-Digit '0'"
"1416","36","","Allocated","","BT","3+7","07/1994",
"1416","37","","Allocated","","BT","3+7","07/1994",
"1416","38","","Allocated","","BT","3+7","07/1994",
"1416","39","","Allocated","","BT","3+7","07/1994",

I should have said the first 3 digits if you've got a "short" area code, sorry, my fault.

I've pasted the whole lot for that, so if your next number is '9', i.e. 0141 639, it's a BT line. If it's 0141 635, it's a Telecoms World PLC line, and so on.

declan_mac

Thanks again Lee - that's exactly what I was looking for.

It's 0141 633 so looks like it's a BT line.

What's the number I should call from this line to report it and request it to be closed given that 150 and 151 won't work? Also, if I refer to these test results, do I just say it's the LLU test results which identified it as a BT line?

Cheers

Dec

LeeSouthEast

The only remaining possibility is the number has been "ported" out of the BT network and on to someone else. However, the fact you still get the line test facility shows it is connected through the BT network at least, and hasn't been unbundled to somewhere like Sky, TalkTalk, Orange etc.

I'd dial 100, speak to the operator again and explain that you're now stuck and need help moving forward. BT should be able to tell you who it is ported out to, as the number was originally BT-assigned!

declan_mac

Brilliant.

Cheers

Dec

LeeSouthEast

Good luck

utilitybroker

A good tool for checking numbers is

http://www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk/codelook.htm