Terminating BT phone line account.

The BT T&C for home line rental say:

"Ending the service

Once we have provided the service, you may tell us to stop providing it at any time by giving us 30 days' notice. We will accept notice via a range of methods including phone, e-mail, online chat and in writing. You can contact us to give notice using any of the contact details set out on your last BT bill or any other means of contact we have given you, for that purpose. If you are switching to another provider through an approved process, the notice you must give us will be 14 days. We can stop providing the service to you by giving you 28 days' written notice."

So what counts as 'switching to another provider through an approved process'?

Would this include porting the phone number to a VOIP provider?

In reply to a post by Michael_Chare:

So what counts as 'switching to another provider through an approved process'?

Would this include porting the phone number to a VOIP provider?

Not sure about VOIP, but as I understand it "approved process" means any migration process performed by Openreach (E.g. WLR -> WLR or WLR <-> MPF).

How is your broadband provided? The line in question, or a different one?

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 26-May-14 16:25:49)

Make sure that the VOIP provider gives access to the Emergency Services, particularly 999.

Keep in mind that the physical phone line, "copper", remains the property of OPENREACH BT generally (very few exceptions); and a Line Rental will be paid "somehow".

Also that OR BT will continue to be involved in its maintenance.

I would expect those types of transfer to be included but as the T&C use the words "approved process" I would like to argue that porting to a VOIP provider should be included as (AIUI) an Ofcom procedure.

If BT want to charge me 30 days rental, they should at least leave the line working, either for out going calls or with a new number for both outgoing and incoming calls. -IMHO

At the moment the line just gets killed when the port take place. I will terminate the existing ADSL service before I request the port just in case this causes a problem.

I'm getting confused.

Do you have a second broadband service/line on which you will be using the VOIP with this ported number?

Emergency calls can be made and I have now registered my address, so than you for making that point.

I plan to cease using my copper phone line completely. Surprisingly I found 'Vodafone' written of the manhole cover to which I hope to be indirectly connected.

How I contact the VOIP provider is not relevant to the question, but it it helps I can tell you that it won't be via my existing copper line.

My question is not about the VOIP. It is about your broadband . How that will be supplied.

Robertos is asking that question for good reasons.

Unless you have FTTP (Fibre To The Premises); or VIRGIN connections or similar, the likelihood is that your (future) Broadband including VOIP will continue to use OR BT copper, from your home to the existing PCP (with a short length of new "copper" to link to the FTTC), so that a (full) Line Rental will continue to be paid to the appropriate part of BT.

That Line Rental may not be obvious in the (new) ISP's billing - but it will be there!