A couple of questions, can someone give me an idiot's explanation please

spiddy100

We are currently using Talktalk for phone (including line rental) and broadband. We are no longer tied into any fixed term contract with them.

We would like to change providers and move to O2 for phone and broadband.

O2 tell me we have to pay a charge of £45 to remove a Talktalk "marker" on our phone line.

Talktalk have not yet responded to my queries about leaving and keeping our existing phone number, so I don't know what their take is on this.

I've read through pages and pages on this forum and elsewhere and have to admit I am utterly confused :huh:.

Firstly, are O2 correct to charge us a fee to change our line over from Talktalk?

Secondly, if we get the MAC code from Talktalk, are there other issues that might prevent us from keeping our existing phone number? (forewarned is forearmed and all that).

If anyone can explain this to me very slowly in words of one syllable, I'd be very grateful :beer:

iniltous

With TT line rental you could be either connected to TT's own network and it doesnt seem easy to migrate to other providers from that..or you could still conneced to BT's network (resold to you by TT) and that should be easier to arrange migration to another provider, try dialing 17070 from your landline, you should get a AVR like ' this circuit is defined as 01*********' (your number) if it continues 'BT line test facilitys dial 1 for ..., then chances are you are still on BT, if it ends after the number then you probabaly are on TT telephony (called MPF)
If you are TT (full MPF) and have a number from TT's number range then getting that number 'ported' to a new provider may be more difficult than if the number was originally a BT number that was ported to TT, did you have the number with BT before TT or was your TT line new and not a migration from BT ?
If you are on TT and not using any part of BT then a MAC probably wont help or be needed as its normally used to move to a different ISP but keeping BT or a provider that re-sells BT telephony...
sorry if this isnt clear, but the process isnt, and whats more a lot of employees of the companys that sell these services seem to have a pretty poor understanding of the process

bod1467

TT full LLU to other ISPs full LLU can be a nightmare. The only company that openly offers this is Sky, and even then it doesn't always work.

O2 don't do full LLU - the phoneline is resold BT line rental - so you'd need to do a "return to donor" (take the line from TT LLU back to a BT line) ... I suspect this £45 charge is to partly cover this. (Normal BT charge would be £130+ but often providers will absorb some or all of this in return for a minimum contract length).

macman

As stated, the only way to avoid this this to do a free return to donor back to BT-but this involves a 12m line rental contract. You can then order broadband from 02 once you are back on the BT network. After 12m you can switch to O2 phone if you wish.
Direct LLU to LLU transfers are next to impossible-assuming that your existing TT line is LLU.

deklan99

"O2 tell me we have to pay a charge of £45 to remove a Talktalk "marker" on our phone line."

You'd have been charged to connect TalkTalk in the first place, currently they charge £30, although usually on some sort of free promotion if you sign up online.

"Talktalk have not yet responded to my queries about leaving and keeping our existing phone number, so I don't know what their take is on this."

Depends if they have a number portability agreement with O2 AND if they co-operate with O2 regards releasing the number in time. Numerous providers have issues with this, common denominator is TalkTalk being difficult/incompetent.

(Assuming you are TT LLU otherwise ignore above)

spiddy100

Thank you everyone.

I phoned the number suggested by iniltous and only got the first part of the message, so it seems that we *are* on a LLU. Going by what you all say, and the figure quoted by bod1467, it seems that O2 are offering us a good price to return our line back to BT. The O2 chap did say that if/when we wanted to leave O2, our line would not be tied up in the same way with them that it is with Talktalk, so again that ties in with bod1467's advice.

I have read lots of reports of TT being difficult when it comes to leaving. I haven't been able to find out any specific information about Talktalk's number portability policies, except that people report problems with them and OFCOM aren't any help. We did have this number with BT before we moved to TT - does anyone know if that means that TT have to give it back if requested? Is that too optimistic?

TalkTalk

Hi,

In regards to keeping the telephone number this is not defined by the company you are leaving, but by the company you are connectign to.


As such TalkTalk would not prevent you from taking the number to another service provider. The new ISP will need to ensure the transfer order is placed as a migration in order to ensure the number is transferred (as opposed to a new provide order).


Im unsure if O2 can complete a transfer directly (you will need to query this with them) if you are an LLU customer with TalkTalk. If not you would need to request a return to donor to migrate the line back to BT Wholesale systems, before migration to O2.


Regards


Mark