BT line required for BT Broadband / Infinity?

Can you have BT Broadband or Infinity via A N Other provider's phone line? (An Openreach line obviously, I'm not asking about Virgin!)

I don't make phone calls via my landline and currently pay Be £9.50ish for the connection. Seems a BT line would be £16.10.

No BT Retail sells phone and broadband bundles now, you cannot have their broadband without a phone line from them.

Reason: They hope to make their profit from the calls people make

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

Can you have BT Broadband or Infinity via A N Other provider's phone line? (An Openreach line obviously, I'm not asking about Virgin!)

I don't make phone calls via my landline and currently pay Be £9.50ish for the connection. Seems a BT line would be £16.10.

where are you getting the £16.10 from?
its £14.60/month or if you pay £129 upfront it works out at £10.75/month

£14.60 plus £1.50 for the non optional extras like 1471 and caller ID.

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

£14.60 plus £1.50 for the non optional extras like 1471 and caller ID.

do you want/need the caller id? if so you can get bt privacy which is free and includes the caller id as long as you make a couple of calls a month.

as far as I'm aware 1471 is free as we don't pay any extra for it..

I think 1571 is free as well?

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

£14.60 plus £1.50 for the non optional extras like 1471 and caller ID.

Both are free! 1471 is standard and CID by requesting Privacy at Home.

They are also optional.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I think 1571 is free as well?

yes, looking at the faqs on the bt site its free as long as you make 2 calls a month.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

They are also optional.

1471 (& 141 & 1470) is a standard Calling Feature:

BT 1471 � BT 1471 is free but the Call Return feature costs a fixed fee of 17.7p (applies whether or not the call is connected). Dial 141 before your call to avoid your number being obtained through 1471/Caller Display.

As is 1571:

BT Answer 1571 voicemail � The call return feature does not work with withheld or international numbers. Customers who use Call Barring (and select option 1) will not be able to use 1571. The attempted call set-up will cost 17.7p. Some social/burglar alarm equipment may not be compatible with 1571 (check with your supplier). Customers must make at least two chargeable or inclusive calls a month (or 6 a quarter) to avoid a £1.02 a month charge for 1571.

EDIT: Oh, I see! They are optional in the sense as to whether you care to dial them .

Edited by XRaySpeX (Sun 22-Apr-12 00:24:36)

No, the 3 free calling features are optional in that you don't have to take them, so you don't have to pay £1.50 if you don't make 2 calls per month.

I agree that 1571 has to be optable-out in view of the potential charge.

But there is no point in 1471 et al being optional.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

I agree that 1571 has to be optable-out in view of the potential charge.

But there is no point in 1471 et al being optional.

They didn't / don't charge at all for 1471,although they list it as a calling feature , it's the CLI (Caller display)that is an option but is free if you make 2 calls or SMS per month or 6calls per quarter if billed quarterly,privacy at home

In reference to www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?top...:

THE LEGAL STUFF

BT Privacy at Home with Free Caller Display. Customers who do not make enough calls with BT will be charged for BT Caller Display. Customers who are billed every three months must make at least six chargeable or inclusive calls within those three months, otherwise BT reserves the right to charge £8.10 a quarter. Customers who are billed monthly must make at least two chargeable or inclusive calls a month otherwise BT reserves the right to charge £2.70 a month. Free calls (for example to 0800 numbers, calls to the emergency services etc) do not count towards the minimum call commitment.

�BT Answer 1571 voicemail � Customers must make at least two chargeable or inclusive calls a month (or 6 a quarter) to avoid a £1.02 a month charge for 1571.

There maybe yet another case for ASA as they advertise that you get these three calling features absolutely free, when one of them is free by default regardless of even having a calling plan or not , So the three calling features are really only two ,

Edited by tommy45 (Sun 22-Apr-12 04:23:17)

In reply to a post by tommy45:

There maybe yet another case for ASA as they advertise that you get these three calling features absolutely free

No, they don't! Show me where?

You always have a Calling Plan with BT even if it is the free Unlimited Weekend Calls.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

No, the 3 free calling features are optional in that you don't have to take them, so you don't have to pay £1.50 if you don't make 2 calls per month.

I can't see how to do that. It appears you have to have a calling plan, you can't have a line without one.

I think you are confusing the included calling plans and the options such as caller display.

I pay the basic rental and have registered for Privacy at Home, which includes free registration with the Telephone Preference Service and free caller display.

The six calls per quarter I am required to make, (two per month for those on monthly rental), can be part of the calls included in the calling plan, or any call falling outside it. If I hadn't registered for Privacy at Home then caller display would have been a chargeable option.

It all seems very simple to me? So much so I've forgotten the original problem. The question in the Subject was answered at the start.

The calling plans include 'options' but the plans themselves are non optional, therefore the options are non optional.

Like I said, I don't make landline calls so the cost to me will be £16.10 per month because of the non option options.

I'd prefer to have a simple connection as with Be (no caller ID etc) but it does'nt appear available from BT. As a BT line is required for BT Broadband or Infinity it means I'll look elsewhere - unless I can have a line without a calling plan!

All calling plans include 3 Calling Features for no extra cost.� ^

If you hit the fourth radio button in the scrolling display near the top of this page, you see the three free included features: 1571; 1471; Caller ID.

You do not have to add a chargeable Calling Feature from lower down the page, which is what you seem to be thinking you have to do.

There is however some confusion in my mind about the line rental and calling plan options on this page.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

All calling plans include 3 Calling Features for no extra cost.� ^

If you hit the fourth radio button in the scrolling display near the top of this page, you see the three free included features: 1571; 1471; Caller ID.

I agree, but they are not "free". You need to use your landline to make calls otherwise you are charged.

You do not have to add a chargeable Calling Feature from lower down the page, which is what you seem to be thinking you have to do.

No, I was only referring to the features included in the calling plan.

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

All calling plans include 3 Calling Features for no extra cost.� ^

If you hit the fourth radio button in the scrolling display near the top of this page, you see the three free included features: 1571; 1471; Caller ID.

I agree, but they are not "free". You need to use your landline to make calls otherwise you are charged.

Link?

Edit - OK, found it. It does look initially to be as you say, though I haven't checked the arithmetic. Do you never make calls such as 0800/0845/0870 etc. on your mobile and get charged for them? They qualify for the required BT calls.

Edited by RobertoS (Sun 22-Apr-12 11:38:17)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Do you never make calls such as 0800/0845/0870 etc. on your mobile and get charged for them? They qualify for the required BT calls.

Short answer is no. I don't think that an 0800 call counts as a "chargeable" or "inclusive" call. Most 0845 and 0870 numbers have migrated to "chargeable" prefixes - best just "say no to 0870". I manage to find geographic numbers given an 084x 087x number. And in any case, I can't be bothered making sure I make two calls a month (they could be geographic at weekends for example). I just want a line for broadband!

So it seems I should stay with Be or move to another "line only" provider and "fibre only" ISP. (Be won't let me keep the phone with them if I move my BB away and they have no fibre plans this year at least).

In reply to a post by Woolwich:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

All calling plans include 3 Calling Features for no extra cost.� ^

If you hit the fourth radio button in the scrolling display near the top of this page, you see the three free included features: 1571; 1471; Caller ID.

I agree, but they are not "free". You need to use your landline to make calls otherwise you are charged.

The only one that is not potentially free is 1571 which is £1.02 pm, not £1.50, if you don't make enuf calls:

In reference to www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?top...:

BT Answer 1571 voicemail � The call return feature does not work with withheld or international numbers. Customers who use Call Barring (and select option 1) will not be able to use 1571. The attempted call set-up will cost 17.7p. Some social/burglar alarm equipment may not be compatible with 1571 (check with your supplier). Customers must make at least two chargeable or inclusive calls a month (or 6 a quarter) to avoid a £1.02 a month charge for 1571.

but you can switch it off:

In reference to bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8374:

How do I remove BT Answer 1571 from my line?
You can do this online. Visit www.bt.com/callingfeatures and click the 'Change features' button. Otherwise please call us on 0800 800 150 (Monday to Saturday 7:30 am � 10pm and Sunday 9am to 6pm

My real concern with BT is that do have a history of locking existing customers into long contracts before moving the goal posts overnight and charging existing customers large penalties to escape them and I am somewhat concerned that a leopard does not change its spots.

I am with BT. - About six months ago I went to BT due to congestion on the O2 broadband system. (I was reasonably happy with the way in which the O2 phone line and the O2 call plan for telephone calls worked but it became obvious that the O2 broadband system was being overloaded).

While with O2 I noticed that when O2 made terms and conditions changes and/or O2 introduced new products they seemed to behave reasonably towards their existing customers in that an existing customer was able to continue on the legacy product as they had originally agreed to. � (I liked the way that O2 did that and they should be commended for it).

When I joined BT, I chose the BT anytime call option and BT Infinity and this means that I can now get �BT Privacy� for free because I tend to make a few inclusive calls per month under the BT anytime calling plan.

However, the fact that BT specify that two calls per month must be made is a small concern because I could be away on holiday for a month and I cannot understand why it is not automatically free to all, (especially for those people who pay for one of the BT inclusive phone call plans and who can make free phone calls). � The real concern is that this will be a way of their moving the goal posts overnight, (as practiced by the old BT), and we will be left with the option of being charged for the service or being charged to escape.

It would be much better if BT made all the incidentals free and they stopped locking people into long contract periods. � People only tend to change their ISP and/or phone provider when the service and/or the price to service cost ration deteriorates and the best way for BT to obtain and retain customers is to provide a quality service at a reasonable cost with all low cost add-on services free and no hidden extras.

I am still concerned that a leopard does not change its spots.

Regards,
Fido

I have to say I agree with you; it seems so unnecessary from them.

Changes to a service that are fundamentally detrimental to the customer make contract null and void. In these situations a provider must inform consumers, and you then have two weeks to make your mind up to accept or leave.

The problem is when it comes to most changes there is no firm rule i.e. 90% increase would be unfair, but at 2 or 3% one probably would not, where the exact line would fall depends on an individuals circumstances.

If people are eligable, you can have ADSL on a line that has a social tariff, but not FTTC/P products

What a drama, Bob, for so little!
If Woolwich feels disinclined to pay - possibly - a few coppers per month to be able to have a BT line (with the advantages of Infinity) then that's for him to choose. I know what you, I and many others prefer to do. A complete waste of everyone's typing finger to perpetuate such a pointless discussion. Well, that's my opinion anyway.
Cheers, Les.

[chuckle]
Indeed.

What is certain is that to get cheaper FTTC than BT is far from easy. Especially if the package I'm on doesn't provide sufficient allowance for the OP. The total of phone line and FTTC is what counts in the end.