Discussion topic:Sky BB + BT Landline

Frogprince2

My sister(1) has Sky Unlimited BB only wich was originally O2 Unlimited untill Sky took over O2 some years ago, The router is still the one provided by O2 as Sky didn't send a Sky router just the billing was changed to Sky everything else stayed the same

The BT landline is in a different name at the same address this is the name of my other sister(2) who moved overseas some years ago and sister(1) just continued paying the paper bills when they arrived.

 Since BT will updating phonelines to use broadband only it means having phone and broadband together as far as im aware?

 If sister(1) upgrades her Sky BB unlimited to Sky Superfast 35 does it include landline and will sky take over the number and cancel the BT line automatically? And will sky supply a new router?

When the O2 Broadband (this is standard BB not fibre) was set up one of the requirements was a BT landline was needed wich was already in place, as the broadband signal is sent down the BT line. 

 Now BT will be changing the phone lines to broadband only I dont know what other options she has 

 As far as I know she wont be able to carry on with the BT line once it requires internet for calls as the BB is with sky.

Maybe a new BB and phoneline supplier to replace both BT and Sky would be better? but would they be able to transfer from 2 seperate suppliers into one?

Neil_Jones

With regards to "Since BT will updating phonelines to use broadband only it means having phone and broadband together as far as im aware?" - no because the phone will use the broadband in that situation and there will be no phone line.

A lot depends on whether you can get FTTP already - Superfast 35 IIRC is FTTC which is your traditional set up with landline and broadband.

Note that if you still have the legacy arrangements of phone line with Provider 1, the broadband with Provider 2 and you go for an FTTC package with Provider 3, you'll almost certainly have to transfer the phone line to Provider 3 as well.  This can be done by the leading provider, as that will work out cheaper.

iniltous

It appears that it’s a ‘line share’ arrangement ( SMPF , shared metallic path facility ) and although fairly common 10+ years ago , is pretty rare these days as most SMPF  customers were told by the bigger  MPF providers ( like Sky and Talk Talk ) that they had to switch from SMPF ( two bills from separate providers ) to MPF where they would provide phone and broadband together, most did this SMPF to MPF conversion , those that didn’t were simply advised to join someone else , TT and Sky didn’t ( and still don’t ) want any ‘off net’ customers , being a legacy O2 customer probably is the reason this switch wasn’t enforced years ago.

Although BT are switching its broadband customers to DV ( Digital Voice ), because you don’t have BT broadband, you will be ( in effect ) a BT landline only customer , and these are at the back of the queue for ‘DV’ and so it is probably still at least 18 months away before DV becomes an issue for the very few SMPF customers ( where BT provide the ‘line’ ) that still exist, at this point SMPF will not be possible so a choice would be needed , as BT DV won’t work when someone other than BT is providing broadband.

FYI , it’s wasn’t  always BT for the  ‘line’  and someone else for broadband, it could be that BT wasn’t part of the SMPF arrangement at all, but BT are probably the only company that had to maintain SMPF service for the benefit of the broadband provider, so effectively these days the only SMPF remaining will be a BT ‘line’ , and a niche or legacy broadband provider.

Obviously at some point a decision needs to be made , and you have highlighted the options, join Sky for everything, they will in effect cancel the BT ‘line’ and takeover the telephone service ( and may even port the existing phone number  , but not guarantee it ) , join BT for everything, arguably a better chance of retaining the phone number, if the phone number is important , as BT currently provide it , or join another provider for both services, only yourselves can really make this choice, some contributors may offer ‘opinions’  but they are rarely based anything other than their own mainly negative experiences with a particular company, possibly decades ago.

Unfortunately, the ‘gaining provider led’ process where you simply advise the new company and let them deal with everything may not work well in this situation , as this process was never  really designed with SMPF in mind , but to enable easy swapping between MPF providers , this process was designed by the regulator .

When a decision is made , it may need more involvement from the end user to make sure it all goes smoothly.

Frogprince2

Just been looking at BT website to see what their BB is, went through part of the sign up process to see if anything in there about phone numbers etc. and noticed this.

so it looks like the number can be kept just by checking you have account holders permission. And as it is still with BT have a better chance to be able to keep the same number.
 Also since There is  only the Landline on the current BT account that account will end without sister(2) having to close it from overseas?

So a new BB and phone account with BT at the same address as the current BT phoneline. 
Then cancel the sky BB after or does it have to be arranged to be changed by BT? 

iniltous

This is a BT form on the BT Consumer website, once this application is submitted there is always a chance it could be rejected at the BT wholesale/Openreach level if details don’t match for example ,  
I’m not saying it will definitely fail , it may work , but it’s unclear exactly what you are ordering here , is it’s a brand new order for a new line and broadband ( and the form is asking if you want to bring a number from your current non BT provider ) or is it adding BT broadband to the existing BT line ( a line that already has broadband from Sky ) ?, or is your intention to order a new BT line with broadband , moving the number from one BT account to another , hoping that doing this will cease both the old BT account and the Sky broadband ?

If it were adding broadband to an existing BT line why would it ask about a phone number that you already have ?

If this order progresses and isn’t subsequently cancelled for errors not picked up on the application form , you may receive a ‘sorry to see you leave , call us if it’s a mistake’ communication from Sky , if you do , then they are aware of the Sky service being removed, if you don’t receive anything from Sky you probably will have to contact them yourself as they haven’t received and automatic notification from BTw/Openreach.

TBH , this  BT form you are filling in looks like something someone without any current BT service at all would fill in ,for example someone getting rid of Virgin, but moving the phone number they have with  Virgin Media to a new BT  ‘line’ , not the form an existing BT landline customer with a BT number would fill in to add BT broadband to the existing line.

TBH , if your decision is to move the broadband from Sky to BT , you may be better advised to call BT to arrange this ( rather than online ) or register and post on the BT Community forum and get a forum moderator ( BT Staff ) to arrange this for you, mentioning that it’s currently a rare SMPF arrangement where BT supply the ‘line’ and Sky provide the broadband