Moving phone line to new house being charged

Guru86

Good afternoon

I am moving home to rent temporarily whilst my new build is built. I have tried switching bt phone line but been told it will cost £130 to install and can't keep my number.

However been told that I can switch my broadband to the house no problem. Is this right?

I think the ppl renting before me had virgin us that why need a new line?

Cheers

Browntoa

you need a working line for broadband


if you move out of your old exchange area then you cannot keep your number (yet)


virgin used to do broadband only

davidmcn

Virgin won't (I think) charge for connection if they already have a line, so why not go with them instead?

Probably one for the more appropriate board here though.

Guru86

I will only be in temp at this house and all ready in contract with BT.

tykesi

In that case you either pay the £130 or pay off the remainder of your contract and go with Virgin. Unfortunate but that's how it is.

agrinnall

Could you ask BT if you can suspend the contract while you are in temporary accommodation and start it up again when you're in your permanent home, and in the meantime use mobile broadband?

NicNicP

Tell BT you're not happy with them charging you the £130 but appreciate you have no other option at the moment. Remind them that there will be options when the time comes to renew your contract and because of this charge you'll be moving to sky/virgin/talk talk.

noseylurker

£130 is the standard fee that Openreach charge to connect a new build house to the phone network. Only Openreach can do this, as they are responsible for the telephone infrastructure. Since they are part of(?) BT, if you have your phone at the new place with BT, you'll end up paying £130 - and this is the case if you move part way through your contract and stay with them - a new house will always need hooking up to the network and if you're with BT this costs £130.


However, if you switch providers, they may well do you a deal and include the connection fee (the provider arranges for Openreach to come out to the house and connect the line) - I'm about to move into a new build and have signed up with Sky, who will be installing phone line and broadband (Openreach do this bit), and TV with dish etc, for a total installation fee of £10. And the monthly line rental, broadband and call costs are all lower than BT.


I don't think having to change your phone number is a big deal - you're going to have to tell everyone your new address anyway. (And to be honest, I'm always a bit incredulous that people use landlines! I always thought nowadays it was just a way to get t'internet into your house. If my home phone rings, I know it is a PPI call!).

Guru86

Thanks I understand for the new build but surely if there is a phone line in the rented accommodation that is hosted by virgin they can just switch it to BT and fit a new line?

davidmcn

Guru86 wrote: »

surely if there is a phone line in the rented accommodation that is hosted by virgin they can just switch it to BT and fit a new line?

Virgin have their own network - if there isn't an old BT line (that BT can find!) then BT would potentially need to run a new line from their cabinet.