When do price rises start, when to start new contract, international calls & is fibre worth it?

PositiveBalance

Hello everyone,

I am now out of contract with my old provider and looking to move to a new contract, but I am worried about the imminent prices hikes that are due to hit just after I sign up to a new deal.

I just rang up and told my current provider I am leaving. I have a 2 week notice period.

When should we expect to see the next deals on the prices quoted online, and am I better to wait until they show before signing up to something, then getting hit by a massive price increase?

I normally have broadband and a phone line as I have family and friends abroad but getting an international call bundle put on top of the package seems to be almost doubling the price in some cases. I would consider moving to fibre but am a bit afraid if I do and need to move back for some reason after, if I will be hamstringing myself for a connection fee to get a landline back (or if it's all going in one direction of travel toward fibre, am I just worrying about nothing?)

All advice gratefully received.

Thanks in advance for your help.

iniltous

Over what network is your current provider delivering your services for the next two weeks  ? , if it’s Openreach, then unfortunately you have not followed the correct procedure, which is contacting a new provider and letting them serve notice to your old provider and they arrange migrating your service from your old provider to the  new provider , by contacting your current provider yourself, and ‘cancelling’ your current providers service yourself , when you do pick a  a new provider, ( assuming they are also an Openreach based provider) they won’t be able to seamlessly take over your ‘line’ , they will have to wait until your cease order you raised has closed , then raise an provide order to connect you to them over Openreach , so it’s likely that there would be a day or two ( and possibly more ) days with no service at all over the Openreach network.
This only applies if your current supplier  and new provider ( when you decide which one you want ) is using Openreach , if it’s Virgin or some other Alternative Network then this won’t apply 

PositiveBalance

Pants...you are right, iniltous...

I'm currently with PlusNet. Looking at the deals on the main MSE website, my cheapest option, if I don't want to use the phone to call family and friends abroad, is Virgin, which as you say, will be a totally different line. My only issue with that is that I'm sure I vaguely remember a friend getting it a while back and when moving to their next provider after that, having to get a BT line reconnected or something which cost a lot. In that case, is it false economy to go with them?

Also, the bill with them would also increase by a *lot* if I add their international call package, which is another factor to consider...

Am I right in my recollections about my friend recollecting to a BT line after going with Virgin costing a lot?

I notice that more providers are offering a full fibre service like Virgin, so will that be the way of the future and I won't really need to go back to ye olde phone line?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Alderbank

PositiveBalance said:

Also, the bill with them would also increase by a *lot* if I add their international call package, which is another factor to consider...

I notice that more providers are offering a full fibre service like Virgin, so will that be the way of the future and I won't really need to go back to ye olde phone line?

We use WhatsApp to chat for free with friends and family who are overseas. Why would you pay for an international call package?

FTTP (Fibre To The Premises) is not just for the future, it's the way of the present for more and more people. Don't bother about being able to go back to ye olde phone line because they will all be switched off in less than two years time.

PositiveBalance

Alderbank said:

PositiveBalance said:

Also, the bill with them would also increase by a *lot* if I add their international call package, which is another factor to consider...

I notice that more providers are offering a full fibre service like Virgin, so will that be the way of the future and I won't really need to go back to ye olde phone line?

We use WhatsApp to chat for free with friends and family who are overseas. Why would you pay for an international call package?

FTTP (Fibre To The Premises) is not just for the future, it's the way of the present for more and more people. Don't bother about being able to go back to ye olde phone line because they will all be switched off in less than two years ti me.

This is the kind of thing I needed to hear  @Alderbank - thank you.

I have some ye olde relatives who don't really get mobiles and in particular things like WhatsApp, hence wanting to keep the minutes, if possible, but the price difference is so vast I'm going to have to say no, I think.

Any advice on what to do over the imminent price hikes, please? (Or anyone else - I'm not fussy!  )

Thanks for the advice @iniltous @Alderbank.

smallblueplanet

PositiveBalance said:

Any advice on what to do over the imminent price hikes, please? (Or anyone else - I'm not fussy!  )

Thanks for the advice @iniltous @Alderbank.

Have you contacted Plusnet and cancelled your 'leaving'? I thought there would be a cost involved if you cancelled your contract rather than asking your new provider to take over? But I am not certain about that, just mentioning it for you to check.

Also have you checked the Plusnet deals available to you - when I sign in to my Plusnet account (I'm out of contract) they are offering 'ordinary' fibre & line rental for £22.50/month (current price).

They have a little info page that shows you how they will work out the April (1st?) price rise that basically says that it will be plus 14.4% from April. For me that would make the BB £25.74/month so probably not a bad deal as there aren't many options out here, just Sky, BT and Plusnet I think. I will of course ring them and check what the price will be from April.

PositiveBalance

There are only costs if you are still in the initial contract you signed and I am not.

Their deal isn't bad, but there are better ones out there. Thanks for the advice. 😊