How to move from Virgin to BT?

whiskywhisky

Hi

Apologies firstly as this will probably be a daft question.

I have a Virgin home phone connection for many years, the house used to have a BT line but before we bought the house the previous owner disconnected and cut the line line and socket and the remains were plastered over during house repairs. I now cannot find the line anywhere.

We want to move to BT, what is the procedure?

-Shoudl I phone BT and ask for a new line which will cost a lot of money?
- Can or will BT port a Virgin home number over to the BT network?


Thanks

Heinz

As Virgin is cable and completely separate from standard landlines, just pretend you are moving into a new house which has no communications facilities at all.

If you want a BT landline, just phone them. 0800 800 150. The maximum you will pay is £130 for a 12 month contract but, if you agree to a longer contract, you can probably get that down considerably.

Remember though that there are numerous other providers are now marketing landlines installed by BT Openreach.

whiskywhisky

Thanks - by pretending to be have just moved in will that save me the new installation charge? sorry I did not gather why I should say I have just moved in.

Heinz

No, I'm just saying that's, in effect, the position you're in.

You just need a new line, so that's what you ask for.

macman

BT do not distinguish between a reconnection and a new line-the full retail cost is the same: £130-though you should be able to get it for much less.

Quentin

whiskywhisky wrote: »

We want to move to BT, what is the procedure?

Cheapest way would be to use the post office to instal the new line. They currently do that free, and give you a £50 credit to your phone bill.

Phones4Chris

Hi whiskywhisky,

You say in your op that you want to move to BT. Do you mean take a Phone service & possibly broadband from BT Retail, or do you mean you just want a "BT line" so that you can use one of the other providers that use BT's wires (eg. O2, Plusnet, the P.O. etc.) ?
If the former, it won't be cheap.
If the latter, it depends on who's offering the best current deal for your needs.

You say you cannot find the old BT line anywhere, there must be some evidence of it coming to the property.
If it was overhead, you should be able to see the cable coming from the nearest pole.
If it was underground, it may be terminated in a box similar to one of these -
http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/images/large/BT18.jpg
http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/images/large/BT66B.jpg

and there may be a wire connected from any of those going into the house.
Whichever of those it is, you will need to say that there is no Master Socket if you can't find one, otherwise they may assume there is, if records show one was installed previously.

It's unlikely you'll find a better deal for Phone line installation and rental than the P.O. one already suggested, even if it depends on whether you want broadband. You might want to consider one of the Plusnet deals for broadband if you aren't a very large user.

If you put your exchange name in here http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search you will see if there are any LLU providers at your exchange which will give you some idea of the options. Without knowing more of your precise requirements it would be difficult for anyone to make suggestions for the best options to consider.
You might also want to have a quick read of this post if you want extension sockets http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=50467239&postcount=18

HTH.