USO - Who do we get in touch with?

A company I do some support work for currently have a 6mbps broadband connection and their phone system is run over ISDN.

BT are trying their best to sell us a leased line as they say that they are ending ISDN soon and also the leased line would greatly boost our broadband connection. I have asked them about the Universal Service Obligation which comes in on 20th March, but they say we are the only company to ask about this and they have no information on how we/they can start the process of seeing what BT can do for us under the USO.

Does anyone know who we need to approach on 20th March to find out if we are eligible to request a speed of at least 10mbps?

Thinking around the problem - why not go for an additional broadband connection? If it can achieve 6Mbps down, there will be something like 1 or 1.5Mbps up and that would be suitable for 10 or more good quality VOIP lines - it will be dependent on the upload.

Cost of that would be way less than the current ISDN or leased line and could be in place within a few weeks whereas the USO would take way longer.

Install an extra line - port the ISDN number to a VOIP provider which is easy if they are in one block, terminate ISDN having given advance notice.

In reply to a post by MHC:

Thinking around the problem - why not go for an additional broadband connection? If it can achieve 6Mbps down, there will be something like 1 or 1.5Mbps up and that would be suitable for 10 or more good quality VOIP lines - it will be dependent on the upload.

Cost of that would be way less than the current ISDN or leased line and could be in place within a few weeks whereas the USO would take way longer.

Install an extra line - port the ISDN number to a VOIP provider which is easy if they are in one block, terminate ISDN having given advance notice.

Yes I had thought of that option, but I think the company are quite tempted by the Faster Broadband too, so was kind of hoping they would be eligible under the USO and BT would have no choice but to install FTTP or to replace the copper or connect the company to a better cab and give them a faster connection.

If there are a lot of calls going on, which could be a reason why they have ISDN they bandwidth will always be taken by VOIP rather than data anyway.

They need to be realistic and look at how long a USO obligation may take - and would it be copper/fibre or 4G/5G mobile? BT could, if they wanted to, just put in a second line and bond the two together

Having a second broadband line would not stop them pushing for teh USO and would certainly be cheaper than the ISDN. Take them through the options, the costs, timescalses, benefits &c &c. The costs considered need to include how much of their own time, and yours, would be taken up and thus a cost, in going for a USO solutuion.

I will put this idea too them, we have put up with slow broadband for many years so another year or probably wont hurt!

Does anyone know how we get started with on 20th March with finding out if we are eligible for the USO as BT Business claim they have no idea?

I think BT Consumer will have a USO website where USO requests can be submitted. They then have 30 days to come bacj with a response.

The response will also mainly be

There is this 4G plan with XXX GB allowance for something under £45/m which we believe will meet 10 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up. If that fails once you've signed up they will offer an external antenna for £99 which will likely improve things e.g. mounted on eaves of a two storey property. Myself not really sure what the difference will be to signing up to an EE 4G service anyway, suspect a lot of the difference is the other two options or even pointing out to people that a faster option already exists to their property they just need to sign up for it.

Another common response maybe, do you know that company XYZ should be able to offer you a fixed wireless service.

A lucky few (particularly if there is a cluster) might get told, we will deliver FTTP but it will take a year to do so.

cwaite

The USO was aimed at consumers not business so BT Consumer may know more.

The ISDN30 will take 30 Lines at present and runs over a 2Mb pipe, The same equipment can carry a 2Mb data pipe for running VOIP on.

Many / most USO provisions are likely to be made over 4g so if they can get a 4g signal capable of over 10Mb they will not be covered by the USO. This may not be suitable for a business.

If this is the case a quote for FTTPoD may be worthwhile, with a decision depending on price. They mostly wouldn't need to pay the VAT and can use a business voucher to reduce this cost.
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In reply to a post by kitcat:

cwaite

The USO was aimed at consumers not business so BT Consumer may know more.

The ISDN30 will take 30 Lines at present and runs over a 2Mb pipe, The same equipment can carry a 2Mb data pipe for running VOIP on.

Many / most USO provisions are likely to be made over 4g so if they can get a 4g signal capable of over 10Mb they will not be covered by the USO. This may not be suitable for a business.

If this is the case a quote for FTTPoD may be worthwhile, with a decision depending on price. They mostly wouldn't need to pay the VAT and can use a business voucher to reduce this cost.
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Thank you all for your responses, it looks like we may have to go the lease line route to improve the broadband speed significantly in the office,

For your reference, Ofcom state the USO is for Consumers and Businesses.

As quoted from Ofcoms Website
"The broadband universal service obligation (USO) will give people in the UK the right to request a decent and affordable broadband connection. Under the USO, eligible homes and businesses will be able to request a connection, where the cost of building it is no more than £3,400."

You assumed ISDN30, I assumed ISDN2...I wonder which it is.