Moving in and changing line

mattgad

Hi all,

This is my first time move (away from parents) so I'm a bit unsure as to how things work.

In my new house there is a BT line. I want to take out Virgin Media broadband, so it makes sense to change the phone line to Virgin Media.

Questions:

Do I need to get landlords permissions for this? i.e. will anything need to be done to his property?

Do I need to contact BT and tell them?

If the current tenant leaves an unpaid bill with BT, what happens?

Thanks.

Heinz

Virgin Media is a cable service (only about ½ the UK is cabled and can be connected) and offers high speed (up to 100mps) broadband, TV and voice telephony via its fibre optic/coax network.

A BT landline is a completely different technology - normally referred to as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) on which slower, ADSL broadband (allegedly up to 24mps) and voice telephony can be carried. The speed depends on the distance frm the telephone exchange.

Virgin Media try to capture some of the ADSL market too with their Virgin National offering but it's expensive.

mattgad

Heinz wrote: »

Virgin Media is a cable service (only about ½ the UK is cabled and can be connected) and offers high speed (up to 100mps) broadband, TV and voice telephony via its fibre optic/coax network.

A BT landline is a completely different technology - normally referred to as PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) on which slower, ADSL broadband (allegedly up to 24mps) and voice telephony can be carried. The speed depends on the distance frm the telephone exchange.

Hi, thanks for your reply. I'm moving into an area which isn't get connected to cable, so I'll have to take out a package using the phone line. Is it just a simple change of supplier, rather than a change of wire?

Heinz

Yes. The existence of a BT line means wiring to/from the local BT exchange exists (it may not be connected at the exchange though).

Any of the line/calls providers now in the market will use the existing wiring and will get BT Openreach to do any external work that is required.

However, if the provider had installed its own equipment at the exchange (know as local loop unbundling or LLU), the wiring leaves the BT network at the exchange and is wired into the provider's own cabinet. Talk Talk and Sky do that at many exchanges - check if yours is one on http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

Before you opt for a line provider, remember that BT has to allow any ADSL broadband to be carried on its lines but some of the other providers (particularly LLU providers) restrict subscribers to their own broadband.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/?tab=13