Retaining a BT email address

davidoftheshire

Hi.

A friend of mine has been using a BT dial up account for a long time now. Their email address being of the format xxxxxxx@btinternet.com

Now they have switched to O2 broadband and the question is will/can they retain their BT email address rather than having to switch to either and O2 address or a new new web address such as gmail.

I remember years ago that some suppliers would only keep your email account open if you 'dialed in' every 30 days or so, but I don't know what he situation is with BT.

Can anyone state categorically one way or the other if they wiill keep or lose their address?

Thanks

macman

I believe you have to pay to retain it.
But what's the point? A Gmail account takes 10 minutes to set up, then one group email to your contacts advising of your new address. Once done you're free of ISP-based email addresses for ever.

moonrakerz

Or get your own domain, only costs you a few quid a year.
xxxx@davidoftheshire.co.uk or xxxx@davidoftheshire.com etc, etc
Gives you unlimited e-mail addresses and is an excellent way of detecting spammers and blocking spam in general.

therevelator

I pay £1.50 to keep mine, which is a bit of a waste of money really but it's too much hassle to do otherwise.

macman

Changing your email address is not a hassle. It's a couple of hours work at the most if you have a lot of accounts linked to your email address. Otherise, open Gmail account: 10 minutes. Group email to your address book contacts: 5 mins. And you only have to do it once.

veryunsure

I left BT a year ago and my btinternet email still works.

davidoftheshire

macman wrote: »

I believe you have to pay to retain it.
But what's the point? A Gmail account takes 10 minutes to set up, then one group email to your contacts advising of your new address. Once done you're free of ISP-based email addresses for ever.

I've mentioned the gmail option (which I use and the benefit of not being tethered to an ISP).

Thanks

davidoftheshire

moonrakerz wrote: »

Or get your own domain, only costs you a few quid a year.
xxxx@davidoftheshire.co.uk or xxxx@davidoftheshire.com etc, etc
Gives you unlimited e-mail addresses and is an excellent way of detecting spammers and blocking spam in general.

I've already got my own domain thanks. They are not interested in getting one.

davidoftheshire

Doesn't seem there is a categoric answer to the question.

I think I'll push them to go for a gmail address.

Cheers

therevelator

I left BT a year ago and my btinternet email still works.

Yea, but does that mean the same applies to everyone else? Not sure I'd want to try and then lose my address!

macman

It depends on BT, they purge them every so often, so don't rely on it lasting a year.
The solution is simple: Gmail.