£53,000 to install a phone!

This item has appeared in several Scottish daily newspapers...

A couple have been quoted £53K to have a phone line installed by BT.

Whereas I'm sure all their other services - electricity, water etc. have been supplied free of charge...not.

lol they'll have to get a sip/voip line on the satellite broadband lmao although cant see it been fantastic beats 53K lol

Ash

I thought April Fools' Day was yesterday.

So what about the USO for providing a basic phone line?

In reference to stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/uso/main/:

1.1 Universal Service ensures that basic fixed line services are available at an affordable price to all citizen-customers across the UK

1.12 USO is currently funded by BT and Kingston as the obligations have not previously been considered to represent an unfair burden on them. Ofcom has considered how the costs and benefits to BT of providing USO might have changed in recent years. Ofcom�s indicative estimates suggest that since 2001 the costs of serving uneconomic customers have fallen significantly while the costs of providing uneconomic payphones have risen sharply by a similar amount.

I suppose it depends how you define 'reasonable'. It doesn't have to mean 'cheap'. £10,000 is not reasonable for a skateboard but it's very reasonable for a new family car. Do we have any evidence that the line doesn't require £53,000 of work and plant?

As for the USO:

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/uso/s...

"1.12 BT and Kingston are required to provide a connection upon reasonable request and at uniform prices, irrespective of geographical location. This requirement is particularly valuable to customers in remote rural areas whom the market might otherwise not serve. Where installation of a new line costs £3,400 or less, BT sets a standard charge. Where installation will cost over £3,400, BT requires the customer to pay the excess costs (plus its standard connection charge). Ofcom has concluded that a threshold is a sensible approach and that the £3,400 level is reasonable. Ofcom is now proposing to consent to BT charging non-uniform prices above £3,400 and proposing to publish guidance which will suggest BT applies the standard charge when costs exceed £3,400 for particularly vulnerable customers."

My advice, get a satellite connection and a SIP gate phone number with a local area code and number of their choice. Under USO BT have to provide, but are free to pass on fair cost of the work that needs doing. They should of really thought about building in the middle of feck all and taken note of the lack of infrastructure (street cabs, poles that sorta thing)

Guess yours trumps mine as it is later

OK, thanks for the details. So much for the USO.

According to the referenced news item:

a new-build down the road took over their line.
To install a line, BT would have to run it just over a mile from the main road. But the company say the case is one of the rare examples where additional fees must be charged.

So there must already be an existing cable duct or telephone poles, so why would BT want to charge this excessive amount of £53 000 for a new line? Something doesn't add up here.