BT v TalkTalk or another?

Steve_xx

Mum is moving. She currently has TalkTalk line rental and broadband on an old plan that allows calls to UK at anytime and Europe, USA etc.

I phoned BT today to ask them if they owned the current exchange line at the new house, and they said that they did. They proposed that there would be zero connection charge; then evenings and weekends free calls for free for the first 4 months and 10gb broadband, then £13 thereafter. They didn't mention the line rental of £13 a month until I prized it out of them. This is an 18 month contract.

I noticed that TT have recently adjusted their terms for house movers. Formerly you could take your current plan, but I notice that suddenly you can't, and you have to have one of the current offerings.

What's the most cost effective course available here? Ideally Mum would like all day free UK calls + broadband, but she would consider evenings and weekends plans + broadband if the price was good.

Maybe ought to shift the line to Primus or some other and so is it possible to do this?

poshparrot

Hi Steve

Taking everything into consideration, BT would be around £26 a month for eve+weekend plus 10gb broadband - not the best of deals if you ask me.

TalkTalk would be £23.80 a month for unlimited broadband and calls so not only is she getting the all day calls she desires, she also doesn't have to worry about any internet usage.

There are however other companies which offer the same kind of deals and you might want to look at Orange which would be £22.75 a month for the same deal that TalkTalk are offering.

Steve_xx

poshparrot wrote: »

Hi Steve

Taking everything into consideration, BT would be around £26 a month for eve+weekend plus 10gb broadband - not the best of deals if you ask me.

TalkTalk would be £23.80 a month for unlimited broadband and calls so not only is she getting the all day calls she desires, she also doesn't have to worry about any internet usage.

There are however other companies which offer the same kind of deals and you might want to look at Orange which would be £22.75 a month for the same deal that TalkTalk are offering.

Thanks for the information. I was wondering about the Primus option which looks cheap, though evening & weekend calls only as far as I can see.

I'm also thinking that as the new house line is BT's then they would reactivate it faster than if she had to have it ported to TalkTalk or another provider.

I'm also wondering if it can be ported from BT to TalkTalk or another without reactivating it with BT first. But then I realise that if it's activated with BT first then it would be subject to 18 months line rental too!

brewerdave

Remember that your Mum will only get really good deals from TalkTalk if they have installed their own equipment in her new exchange.Check first on Samknows website

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

This will tell you who,if any, of the suppliers offer fully unbundled deals.

Steve_xx

brewerdave wrote: »

Remember that your Mum will only get really good deals from TalkTalk if they have installed their own equipment in her new exchange.Check first on Samknows website

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

This will tell you who,if any, of the suppliers offer fully unbundled deals.

Thanks, I checked with your link and can see that the exchange is unbundled, so should be fine with TT. But I'm wondering about the Primus option. BT own the line now and I'm wondering whether Ican approach Primus now and get them to make it live and then go with them for both cals and broadband, without having to do anything with BT?

macman

Steve_xx wrote: »

Thanks for the information. I was wondering about the Primus option which looks cheap, though evening & weekend calls only as far as I can see.

I'm also thinking that as the new house line is BT's then they would reactivate it faster than if she had to have it ported to TalkTalk or another provider.

I'm also wondering if it can be ported from BT to TalkTalk or another without reactivating it with BT first. But then I realise that if it's activated with BT first then it would be subject to 18 months line rental too!

No, because it's BT OR who reactivate the line regardless-nothing to do with BT Retail.

Steve_xx

macman wrote: »

No, because it's BT OR who reactivate the line regardless-nothing to do with BT Retail.

So I could port it to Primus without any bother you reckon?

Mark_In_Hampshire

If you go for the "free connection" on an 18 month lock-in with BT, you can't port it anywhere for 18 months without breaking the contract and being liable for early termination fees. "It" being the line rental.

All the lines are "BT Openreach", "BT (Retail)" is the bit you talk to. Any provider can, if they choose to offer the service, get the line activated and different providers charge different amounts.

So to work out the best deal purely in financial terms you'd need to consider whether you'll still be there in 18 months and can carry the contract to term if BT (or other term if someone else), and factor in the connection charge, line rental and call tariffs for each.

Steve_xx

Mark_In_Hampshire wrote: »

If you go for the "free connection" on an 18 month lock-in with BT, you can't port it anywhere for 18 months without breaking the contract and being liable for early termination fees. "It" being the line rental.

All the lines are "BT Openreach", "BT (Retail)" is the bit you talk to. Any provider can, if they choose to offer the service, get the line activated and different providers charge different amounts.

So to work out the best deal purely in financial terms you'd need to consider whether you'll still be there in 18 months and can carry the contract to term if BT (or other term if someone else), and factor in the connection charge, line rental and call tariffs for each.

Yes I understand that if I activate it with BT, then I would have to stay with them for 18 months or pay something like £70 to get rid of them.

Giiven that it is a BT line now, can I get Primus to activate it, without first activating it with BT? I know that where broadband exists on a line that you need a MAC to get it ported. But as this house was empty when Mum bought it I don't know whether it had broadband there.

macman

If Primus offer reconnections, then yes, There is no BT monopoly on this.

Steve_xx

macman wrote: »

If Primus offer reconnections, then yes, There is no BT monopoly on this.

It looks to me like Primus would instal a line for free anyway. But I assume that they would only do this in the absence of a BT line already being installed there.

http://www.primussaver.co.uk/New-line-installations.aspx

And, I like the idea of using the link from this site to get Primus line rental & broadband, evening and weekend calls for £12.99 a month.

http://www.primussaver.co.uk/agent/autumn/phone-and-broadband2.html?utm_source=Affiliate_Window&utm_medium=Affiliate_Marketing&utm_campaign=Affiliate_Window&awc=3552_1320596070_866083d7fc259876d3a11e3eff5720bd