BT Monopoly

lolliepop1963

Hi all
I moved into a new build in 2018 and signed up to BT  broadband as at the time seemed anyone else had no room which I figured was because of being a new development... However 15 month on and I would like to find a cheaper supplier what with BT being amongst one of the most costly for just broadband... so I have been attempting to switch with no successful outcome... however became enlightened to BT and their underhand way of having the monopoly on new builds as I was informed by a sky advisor that I am actually unable to switch to a more affordable provider because BT has bought the broadband rights to my house for 3 years... can someone please tell me how this is ok and even allowed and is there anything I can do ?

tacpot12

You need to be careful what you wish for - imagine for a moment that you complain about this to Ofcom and they change the rules so that BT can only have the right to supply your broadband for a minimum of 12 months. The cost of your service will double or treble because BT have to recover their infrastructure costs in 12 months rather than 36. 
I would complain to Ofcom and suggest that the developers of all new properties must pay for the best possible available internet connection infrastructure to be installed so that Broadband customers can have a choice of the provider without the provider needing to tie in the customer to excessive periods. (It really needs to be a condition of the planning consent.) 

Browntoa

Multiple threads in here about it with the same answer.

It's allowed by ofcom to recover costs. The alternative is that you got no broadband or extremely slow broadband.

Carrot007

lolliepop1963 said:

however became enlightened to BT and their underhand way of having the monopoly on new builds as I was informed by a sky advisor that I am actually unable to switch to a more affordable provider because BT has bought the broadband rights to my house for 3 years... can someone please tell me how this is ok and even allowed and is there anything I can do ?

Be upset with the compny that buiuld your house and read what you are signing up for in future. BT are not at fault here. The developer is.

Cisco001

You can always opt for 4G or 5G boardband if they are fast enough

littleboo

What type of service do you have - FTTC or FTTP?

onomatopoeia99

lolliepop1963 said:

however became enlightened to BT and their underhand way of having the monopoly on new builds as I was informed by a sky advisor that I am actually unable to switch to a more affordable provider because BT has bought the broadband rights to my house for 3 years... can someone please tell me how this is ok and even allowed and is there anything I can do ?

Hmm, what?  Do you have FTTP or FTTC?  If FTTP, Sky don't offer services over that, so they can't supply you, but that is Sky's fault because they haven't got off their !!!!!! and implemented a product.  

Chino

lolliepop1963 said:

however became enlightened to BT and their underhand way of having the monopoly on new builds as I was informed by a sky advisor that I am actually unable to switch to a more affordable provider because BT has bought the broadband rights to my house for 3 years

It seems that you have a potential claim for recompense from the seller if the seller did not bring the existence of this monopoly to your attention at the time you purchased the property.
Of course, if you were to calculate how much extra you will have to pay for broadband over the remaining eighteen months or so or of BT's monopoly because you do not have access to a cheaper competitor's service it's going to come to a lot less than it will cost you in solicitor's and court fees in the event you start legal proceedings against the seller and lose your claim.

littleboo

We don't know that BT does have a monopoly, in fact, they almost certainly don't. The OP has been told by a Sky adviser that BT has a monopoly, its not uncommon for ISP advisers to either stretch the truth or only have a basic understanding of the market they work in.

JJ_Egan

FTTP

one builder tied in with a supplier for xx months to cover costs .( and that is not always BT )

two not above but no other suppliers want to service that house .

Sometimes you just have to look harder for a supplier ( often more expensive than BT )

Highland76

lolliepop1963 said:

Hi all
I moved into a new build in 2018 and signed up to BT  broadband as at the time seemed anyone else had no room which I figured was because of being a new development... However 15 month on and I would like to find a cheaper supplier what with BT being amongst one of the most costly for just broadband... so I have been attempting to switch with no successful outcome... however became enlightened to BT and their underhand way of having the monopoly on new builds as I was informed by a sky advisor that I am actually unable to switch to a more affordable provider because BT has bought the broadband rights to my house for 3 years... can someone please tell me how this is ok and even allowed and is there anything I can do ?

The "sky advisor" is talking bollax, I suspect they meant 'Openreach' rather than BT - that's assuming you have an Openreach based FTTP line installed. There are other ISPs who will sell you a FTTP service over Openreach fibre - such as Zen, IDNet, AAISP, Cerberus etc - but they will almost certainly be more expensive than BT Retail. If you're out of contract with BT, then have a look on TBB for current BT offers. For example FTTP 40/10 Mbps with BT is only £24.99/m on a 24 min term...hardly a small fortune.
https://www.thinkbroadband.com/bt-broadband-offers