We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
Activation Charge for Fibre (all providers)
Options
Comments
-
The fibre activation charge in the case of a switch is a fiddle: Let's look at this switching. I already have fibre broadband with Company A and I switch to fibre broadband from Company B which charges me £49 for activation. BUT is Company A going to physically disconnect my fibre broadband requiring Company B to physically connect it again. Doubtful isn't it: What is likely to happen is that the account is going to be switched over and the physical connection left alone.
Except in the case of cable the lines over which broadband is carried whether ADSL or fibre are the same regardless of which company is providing the service. Exactly the same is true of electricity or gas.
In conclusion, what I would like to see is a cheaper activation fee in the case of a switch because the cost of switching should be cheaper than a new activation.0 -
Is that just like a ethernet cable swap, or is it more involved?The physical change is at the cab for the fibre connection (which would then be handed over to Sky's backhaul via the Layer2switch. There's another physical change done at the exchange for the telephony side as you'd be moved to sky's LLU kit from the main distribution frame.0 -
If you swap from BT fibre to Plusnet fibre, there is no physical change and you are not charged an activation fee. BT and Plusnet use the same wire.The fibre activation charge in the case of a switch is a fiddle: Let's look at this switching. I already have fibre broadband with Company A and I switch to fibre broadband from Company B which charges me £49 for activation. BUT is Company A going to physically disconnect my fibre broadband requiring Company B to physically connect it again.
If you are on BT fibre, and go to Sky or talktalk fibre, there is a physical change and you will almost certainly be charged. Sky and other companies will have physically run their own wire to the exchange, where the openreach guy will have to pull out the BT wire and plug in the Sky one.
We would all like to see a cheaper activation fee, but the cost of manpower, vans, training and office staff etc would almost certainly not be covered if they only charged us £10, however much we would like it to.In conclusion, what I would like to see is a cheaper activation fee in the case of a switch because the cost of switching should be cheaper than a new activation.0 -
Is that just like a ethernet cable swap, or is it more involved?
Essentially a wire swap yeah, so the wires are terminated into a different block (for telephony).
Similar change at the cabinet for the "fibre" connection except it's not a fibre connection it's a copper connection into a DSLAM which is fed by a fibre cable which is capable of transmitting many Gb/s. The reason for the switch at the cabinet is so that the new routing back to the relevant backhaul can be "built" onto the circuit.0 -
The fibre activation charge in the case of a switch is a fiddle: Let's look at this switching. I already have fibre broadband with Company A and I switch to fibre broadband from Company B which charges me £49 for activation. BUT is Company A going to physically disconnect my fibre broadband requiring Company B to physically connect it again. Doubtful isn't it: What is likely to happen is that the account is going to be switched over and the physical connection left alone.
Except in the case of cable the lines over which broadband is carried whether ADSL or fibre are the same regardless of which company is providing the service. Exactly the same is true of electricity or gas.
In conclusion, what I would like to see is a cheaper activation fee in the case of a switch because the cost of switching should be cheaper than a new activation.
See my post above. When switching between suppliers that use different backhaul (say from an ISP who use BT Wholesale, to Sky) then yes, a physical change is made in the cabinet.
This is how some unlucky folk have been caught out when switching to find there are no spare ports on the day of the switch and that their existing port has since been allocated to a new customer leaving them without FTTC until Openreach increase capacity.0 -
I'm just about to change from BT's fibre and the prices are interesting. Lots of variation.
Origin £0 activation fee (advertised as save £49 vs BT)
Sky £48.95 activation fee
BT £50 activation fee
Plusnet £0 activation (£56.99 for fibre without line rental)
Zen £30 activation (£48 activation charge for new broadband connections, where customers are not switching from another provider)0 -
I'm just about to change from BT's fibre and the prices are interesting. Lots of variation.
Origin £0 activation fee (advertised as save £49 vs BT)
Sky £48.95 activation fee
BT £50 activation fee
Plusnet £0 activation (£56.99 for fibre without line rental)
Zen £30 activation (£48 activation charge for new broadband connections, where customers are not switching from another provider)
What do EE charge?0 -
If you swap from BT fibre to Plusnet fibre, there is no physical change and you are not charged an activation fee. BT and Plusnet use the same wire.
If you are on BT fibre, and go to Sky or talktalk fibre, there is a physical change and you will almost certainly be charged. Sky and other companies will have physically run their own wire to the exchange, where the openreach guy will have to pull out the BT wire and plug in the Sky one.
Looks to me like justification of an unnecessary charge.
I moved BT Fibre 2 from my previous address to my current address which was previously disconnected. No charge. After that I moved from BT Fibre 1 to TalkTalk 38 Mbps Fibre. No charge. Then I moved from TalkTalk 38 Mbps Fibre to Plusnet 38 Mbps Fibre. No charge.
If what you say is true on each change the "wire" would have been ripped out and a different "wire" installed. What I'm saying is that that's unlikely mainly because it's ridiculous.0 -
It is 100% the case that moving from a BT based ADSL service to an LLU one involves altering connections at the exchange. Initially connecting FTTC involves connection work at the cabinet. I believe that the fibre from the cabinet back to the exchange is common to all providers (but may be wrong) but certainly the backhaul from the exchange will vary between connections using BT based backhaul and LLU operators backhaul.Looks to me like justification of an unnecessary charge.
I moved BT Fibre 2 from my previous address to my current address which was previously disconnected. No charge. After that I moved from BT Fibre 1 to TalkTalk 38 Mbps Fibre. No charge. Then I moved from TalkTalk 38 Mbps Fibre to Plusnet 38 Mbps Fibre. No charge.
If what you say is true on each change the "wire" would have been ripped out and a different "wire" installed. What I'm saying is that that's unlikely mainly because it's ridiculous.
What you need to realise is that those connection changes are done by Openreach and carry a standard charge. Some ISPs absorb that charge and recoup it over the length of the contract others pass it on either partially, in full, or at a premium.
What it boils down to is you need to compute the total cost of any deals including any startup fees and discounts over the length of the contract.0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 351.1K Banking & Borrowing
- 253.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.6K Spending & Discounts
- 244.1K Work, Benefits & Business
- 599.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 177K Life & Family
- 257.4K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards