BT/TalkTalk/O2 dilemma

Captain_Dangerous

Greetings all,

I'm aware there's a sticky for something similar to this but I have quite a convoluted problem:

My father passed away recently and I've taken over phone bills for the house, but I'd like to take advantage of the O2 20Meg offer but have to consider so many options. I've never had to pay bills before so I implore your help.
The fun:


I'm on a Talktalk legacy package (contract ended) and would need a BT line for the O2 offer, but can't seem to find a straight answer regarding connection charges (there is an existing line in the house.)
Further, I was gifted an iPhone, the contract of which my father was paying and which I can no longer afford given that I use the home phone far more and have never come close to my calls limit.

So O2's bereavement team has offered me a £10-a-month pay-as-you-go where I would still qualify for free internet (which is what I really use it for,)
which is appealing when I have the landline phone, but if I switch, I could do away with the home phone and make all calls via mobile which would require me to keep my £34.26 iPhone contract.

Further, I'm not really keen on an 18-month contract given that I may not be here for more than 3/4 months (as we may have to sell the place.)



My options are thus:
1) BT line (for £xx connection fee + x month contract) + O2 broadband (£9.79/month + 12 month contract) + iPhone (£34.26/month)

2) TalkTalk line (new contract? + £4 speed boost) + iPhone (£10 give or take.)

3) Stay as I am: TalkTalk have jacked up the prices this month to £25.99 and I don't want international or anytime calls anymore and could do with greater broadband speed.


I don't really know what I'm doing so any help would be most appreciated.

Thank you.

Captain_Dangerous

Oh, and I also haven't told TalkTalk about my Dad popping his clogs, so will that cause me a problem?

macman

Is your TT line already LLU'd? If not then you could still switch to O2 broadband and leave your line rental and calls on TT-if you wanted to.

Captain_Dangerous

Yeah, £11.10 line rental to TT. They put it up when I'm not looking.

macman

Paying your line rental to TT (it's £11.25 BTW) does not mean that the line has been LLU'd. Dial 17070, if you just get the message 'this line has been identified as 01234567' etc, then it's LLU'd to TT and no longer a BT line. But if you then get a further series of options, eg. 'Press 2 for Quiet Test' etc, then it's still on the BT network.

Captain_Dangerous

Gave that a try (thanks) and yeah, it's been LLU'd.

No shiny O2 for me?

macman

Captain_Dangerous wrote: »

Gave that a try (thanks) and yeah, it's been LLU'd.

No shiny O2 for me?

Until you migrate your line away from TT, you are stuck with them for broadband.

Captain_Dangerous

[Grumbles]

Right, so does that mean shiny 18 month BT contract and connection fees then?
And given that I already have a hard-line, they won't charge me for installation will they?

(Also, thanks macman, sorry for taking so long to reply.)

macman

You would need to check with with BT for any return to donor charges, but for any BT contract you will have to take a minimum of 12m line rental. The free connection deal requires 18m.
Have you put the no. into the O2 checker to see what it says?

ACDeag

Captain_Dangerous wrote: »

[Grumbles]

Right, so does that mean shiny 18 month BT contract and connection fees then?
And given that I already have a hard-line, they won't charge me for installation will they?

(Also, thanks macman, sorry for taking so long to reply.)

Probably no charge but will be a 12 month contract, call BT and ask for Return to Donor. Ultimately BT own the line to the exchange so they can take it back again off of TalkTalk. Once with BT you sign up to O2 broadband and leave line rental with BT.

BT_company_representative

Hi Captain Dangerous,

I can check if there will be a connection charge to take the line back to BT. Email your details to btcare@bt.com and include a link to your post. Please mark the subject field of the email Captain Dangerous- MSE Enquiry so I can identify you.

Many Thanks
Donna
BT Support