Alternative to BT in BT-only area

toasterman

This might sound like a silly question, but in a non-unbundled area, where Virgin Media is not available, is there any alternative to going directly to BT for a phone line?
And does this complicate everything more? My girlfriend's mum seemed to be able to go via the Post Office, but there were several problems (technical and admin), and when I got through to their customer service, found them pretty useless.

The reason I ask is that I'm moving into a new flat (require a new installation, as it's a relatively new build that has never had one before), and there seems to be only two options listed on BT's website for new lines.
One is free calls to landlines at weekends for £0 per month, one is free calls to landlines anytime for £4.99 per month.

I get enough minutes included with my mobile phone deal (to landlines and mobiles), that I'm hardly going to use the landline at all, so while I initially figured this was an easy option - £0 per month - it's not as simple as that.

In the small print on either of these packages, it states that you must:
"make at least 10 chargeable or inclusive calls per month. Otherwise, you'll need to pay compensation charges of £6.80 for every month that you don't make these calls."
Firstly, I thought "what a bloody cheek! Charging me more for using the service less!?"

I don't hardly use the landline at all really - I want it for the broadband. £4.99 is about 5 hours of local evening/weekend calls anyway and everyone I know is at work during the day, so I doubt I'd use that every month to make the deal worthwhile.

A smart man might say to make his 10 calls during the free time, but "weekend" only includes Saturday/Sunday, so I think it unlikely my girlfriend will phone her mum 2-3 times every weekend.
Am I going to have to find someone to prank call 2-3 times every weekend, or is there a better way?

Any help much appreciated.

billsavings

Their are numerous alternatives but none of them will offer you free connection unless their is a working line in situ with dialing tone.

Naturally BT being a commercial organisation expect if they connect for free to get some revenue back.

Some low users phone 020 7043 1320 (Speaking Clock), on Saturday/Sunday to meet the minimum call,s requirement.

Mark_In_Hampshire

You can pick any supplier that installs lines. However a) there aren't many to choose from and b) no matter who you pick they have to have Openreach install the line, which is where it usually seems to fall apart (judging by numerous threads on the subject) both in the case of BT Retail and the Post Office.

toasterman

Fair point on them earning some money. I'll admit I was trying to avoid the £125 charge in the first place (last BT line I had installed was only £75, and only 3-4 years ago), and possibly avoid dealing with BT wherever possible (not that I've had much more fun with VirginMedia in the past).
I know Virgin only have to cable from the street outside into your house, but their setup fee is only £35. I can't really imagine there's much more work for BT, in a small housing estate off a main road, two miles from the city centre.

I've found numerous other places to buy from, but they charge an installation fee almost as high as BT's, so as they're all so equally awkward, I'll probably end up with BT by default. I'm amazed when the estate was built, they didn't just wire in all the lines at the time, ready for people moving in.
They didn't leave the gas pipes or electricity cables to be installed by whichever company you went with upon moving in.

From looking around, if I had the £125 upfront installation charge and didn't mind spending it, there are numerous other places I could go, but none with any more ease than BT.
I've discovered:

TalkTalk will install a line, do line rental, broadband etc..and they're cheap. But "up to 38 days" installation time!

Sky do lines from the looks of it, and broadband. You can't have either unless you have a tv package with them, though.

The Post Office do install lines but it'll cost £110.
Although their service "could commence from 5 days", in their own example timescale it takes them 14.
That said, once you're with them - it's only £25.50 a month including free evenings and weekend calls to landlines (with no minimum usage limits) and unlimited broadband.
Bizarrely they tout the fact that their phone line has a one-month minimum contract term, yet their broadband has a 12 month term. Lol.

Plusnet have an incredibly odd pricing structure, based on different grades they give different exchanges, depending on how many other broadband providers are available, and how many people live there.
Their quoted prices are all based on a "low cost area", yet this isn't mentioned til you get to the small print, that it might actually be £5 a month or so more, if you're not in one of these areas.
And they won't tell me what a new line costs either - I have to phone them.
It could be £23.24 a month, it could be £28.24 a month, possibly more.

Opal (aimed at businesses really, advertised by Pipex, but owned by Talktalk) states it has a "minimum 10 day" installation period, but no suggestion as to how long it might actually take.

Primussaver will install a new line for £105.
Then £23.99 a month for unlimited broadband and evening/weekend calls, between 3 and 10 day installation time, but they make you sign an 18 month contract.

Unlimited BT broadband plus weekend calls is £30.53 a month.
£35.52 for same with anytime calls, evening & weekend isn't listed on their site for an easy comparison to others.

It's pretty much as I had thought looking at just BT's site. Cheapest option is to sign to BT for 12 months, then (given the same prices are for new line customers as existing line ones) move broadband providers elsewhere.

Correction: I got BT's pricing wrong. See new post a couple below. I missed the small print stating the start price was only for first 3 months.

Mark_In_Hampshire

Thanks for posting that - this information will be useful for people making a decision on who to go with.

The reason everyone charges the same or similar is because they are charged by Openreach, so have no flexibility. The BT Group still have a monopoly on line provision, so poor service and inflated charges apply to everyone now. There is no competition at all in this area.

If the price is cheaper or free it's because the supplier takes the hit on the install hoping to make the money back from you during the contract.

JustPassingBy

toasterman wrote: »

I get enough minutes included with my mobile phone deal (to landlines and mobiles), that I'm hardly going to use the landline at all, so while I initially figured this was an easy option - £0 per month - it's not as simple as that.

But it is. No other line provider is offering £0 per month. The 10 calls could be to an insurance company at weekends. Or anywhere with a 0845/0870/geographic number and using IVR. If this is too much of an effort you're into quite a bit more than £0 per month.

toasterman

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

Thanks for posting that - this information will be useful for people making a decision on who to go with.

The reason everyone charges the same or similar is because they are charged by Openreach, so have no flexibility. The BT Group still have a monopoly on line provision, so poor service and inflated charges apply to everyone now. There is no competition at all in this area.

If the price is cheaper or free it's because the supplier takes the hit on the install hoping to make the money back from you during the contract.

Anyone using this for research should consider using http://www.samknows.com/broadband/mapping/mapping.php to find out if their local exchange is unbundled, and what services are available at what speeds.
Although every ISP will offer you like "up to 20mb", it's only actually available at 4mb max where I'm moving to, so 8mb, 12mb, 20mb....offerings can essentially be considered the same speed.

Also, I think o2 are going to start doing home phone lines (from March 2010), so might be worth including them in a future search.
I have a contract mobile with o2, and if my new exchange were unbundled and I had a line already, they'd undoubtedly be cheaper than almost anywhere else. Sadly, I'm not within their area.

Orange do a landline billing service, but seem to require you already have a landline to start with.

toasterman

I've just found a late potential alternative, but will have to phone them to check.

Virgin.net do a national service. It's not fibre, so you won't get 50mb speeds, but it is a real alternative to BT for phone lines.

Over the course of a year (they both have 12 month contracts), unlimited broadband and calls to landlines free all the time:
Via BT = 480.24
Via Virgin = 483

Over the course of a year, unlimited broadband and weekend landline calls only free:
Via BT = 420.36
Via Virgin = 411

And the cheaper packages:
BT - 20gb download/month limit, free weekend landline calls = 369.36
Virgin - 40gb download/month limit, free weekend landline calls = 351
£18.36 cheaper to go with Virgin, and you get double the monthly download allowance.

I've included the £44 "activation" charge you have to pay to Virgin if you don't have a working phone line. I'm going to phone them now, to make sure that actually means installation and not just "BT cut you off for not paying".
If the prices are as quoted, I'll go with whichever can install it the quickest.

Edit: 5-10 working days install date with Virgin, and the activation fee does include a new line, if that is required.
Sadly after 20mins on the phone to the most bored call centre rep ever, I failed the credit check. There's no good reason for this, there's nothing wrong with my credit rating, and I had it years ago with a Virgin cable package as well, despite having a contract mobile phone and two credit cards at the time. Think I'll give BT a call.

Another edit: How did I forget that?
Among all my obsessing over 78p a month here, £8 a year there, I forgot to go via Quidco when I signed up.
BT line and BT Broadband is worth £65

Inactive

I would avoid Virgin for ADSL Connections.