Line Installation

Hi,

Sorry for the dummy question...

I'm moving to a new-build in a month.
I have no current providers for anything.

--> Regardless who I go with, do I need to get a "line installation" from BT?

If I want fibre only, I understand I can just get a Virgin broadband & TV only deal?

I'd never use a normal line for internet, only fibre... so the only reason for an installation would be for calls?

I read it's £130 for a line installation. You get it free when you take out a BT package (plus BT give you some handsets) - that actually sounds pretty decent but having read some of the BT horror stories here....... and also, I can say that their online chat is abysmal. It puts me off.

Just don't want to get a month down the line with Virgin (who I'll likely go with for the speeds... though John Lewis get good reviews for broadband!) only to discover I needed to get a BT line installation done....

Thanks!

Comments

  • guitarman001
    guitarman001 Posts: 1,052 Forumite
    FYI on the site there is dedicated Virgin cabling going in and on the phone just now, BT said in that case Virgin would handle everything for me.

    But on Virgin chat... the person said I would need to get a line installation from BT...


    !?!?!?!??!
  • onomatopoeia99
    onomatopoeia99 Posts: 6,951
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    To use VM internet and phone there needs to be VM infrastructure in your street to connect to. VM have their own local network which is exclusive to them, you do not need a BT line for it.

    For almost any other any ISP, you need a BT line, but you do not need to order this from BT. If you order it from (say) Sky, they will organise Openreach to come and install it. This line, a twisted pair of copper cables, will supply your broadband and voice service. Even if you don't have a voice service, you still need to rent the line because it's how your broadband gets to your house.

    Just as Virgin "fibre" broadband is actually copper cable, so is almost all "fibre" broadband supplied on a BT line (fibre to the premises has a very small rollout so far). The fibre actually starts at the street cabinet, before that it's copper. Either twisted pair (BT) or aerial type cable (Virgin).
    Proud member of the wokerati, though I don't eat tofu.Home is where my books are.Solar PV 5.2kWp system, SE facing, >1% shading, installed March 2019.Mortgage free July 2023
  • guitarman001
    guitarman001 Posts: 1,052 Forumite
    Oh, you'd think it'd be fibre all the way to the cabinet...

    Thank you :)

    Virgin re-assured me I don't need BT... we will have Virgin infrastructure.
  • onomatopoeia99
    onomatopoeia99 Posts: 6,951
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    Oh, you'd think it'd be fibre all the way to the cabinet...
    Replacing all the copper in the local loop with fibre would cost many billions of pounds total and many hundreds (or thousands) per line individually. The average consumer won't pay this up front for a domestic connection, so what we have is fibre from the exchange to the green cabinets then the traditional copper wires from the cabinet to the premises.

    New build estates seem to sometimes be getting fibre all the way to the individual premises, but rollout on existing lines is very slow.
    Proud member of the wokerati, though I don't eat tofu.Home is where my books are.Solar PV 5.2kWp system, SE facing, >1% shading, installed March 2019.Mortgage free July 2023
  • phillw
    phillw Posts: 5,593
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    Oh, you'd think it'd be fibre all the way to the cabinet...

    It is. Most people with BT Fibre have FTTC (Fibre to the cabinet). FTTP (Fibre to the premises) is pretty rare.

    https://www.homeandwork.openreach.co.uk/fibre-broadband/ultrafast-fibre/fttp.aspx

    "Our FTTP network is already the UK's largest, covering 345,000 premises. And we're not stopping there. It's our plan to reach two million homes and businesses by the end of 2020."

    The main advantage to FTTC is they can install a cabinet in an area and then wait for customers to switch, at which point it's just a simple job to patch your phone line from the old cabinet to the new one. FTTP would involve running another length of fibre and entering your premises.

    When FTTP rollout will be completed is hard to say as BT are still rolling out 21cn
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BT_21CN http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2017/02/bt-update-uk-fttp-sogea-3db-21cn-wbc-broadband-plans.html

    Just be glad you have Virgin as they stopped installing new equipment anywhere for a long time.
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281
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    edited 19 May 2017 at 8:37AM
    VM have restarted installs in new areas .
    http://www.virginmedia.com/cablemystreet/
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