BT landline only deals

Ritametermaid · 2 October 2022 at 4:54PM

My elderly mother is about to move into assisted living where you can only have BT landline and/or broadband. Not sure how this can be but I’ve checked and it’s definitely correct. She’s currently got a £21 deal (broadband and landline) with John Lewis/Plus Net which she can’t transfer even tho they are all the same company! The cheapest landline only deal is nearly £30. She’s not on benefits so I cant use the deal they have for people on low incomes. She’ll hardly use her phone but although she has a mobile she’s not great at receiving calls. Can anyone advise how I can negotiate cheaper landline deal. She can manage without the broadband as that’s only there for me. Thank you.

Browntoa · 2 October 2022 at 4:57PM

Is she on any benefits?

There are cheap pensioners offers

https://www.bt.com/broadband/home-essentials

iniltous · 2 October 2022 at 5:21PM

BT do not have any areas where they are the only provider , if the assisted living management are involved in the ordering process and your mother has to order through them , then that’s down to the management of the facility if they insist on BT , but if your mother ( or you ) are ordering service yourselves, then as it’s Openreach ( not BT ) that provides the network, then any provider that consumes OR products can offer services if they want….however , if she only wants a phone service, many providers don’t see a profit in that , so only offer broadband and phone , not telephone on its own.
As already said , BT are one of the not many providers that will supply a phone only service, and if no broadband is wanted by the consumer, they offer a discount on line rental , but AFAIK, it’s a service you have to call to get ( not on line ) as it’s not just not just saying I don’t want BT broadband , it’s not having broadband from any provider, that is the qualification for getting the discount , if someone had broadband from VM ( for example ) they cannot have a discounted line rental from BT , calling presumably is so BT can check that the applicant isn’t ‘cheating’ the system

RRatchet · 8 November 2022 at 3:07PM

Another cost to factor in is that BT will charge you a connection fee of £70 even if you are changing from Plusnet to BT. Just rang up today as I don't need landline internet as have fixed wireless broadband & want to keep my landline. I didn't go ahead but may have to swallow my painful £70 medicine as Plusnet are now just taking the proverbial with their hiked charges.