Confusion over requirements

I'm not entirely sure which part of the forums this should go in, but something is confusing me and I'm hoping someone can help.

I've been with Pipex since March 2004 and have recently decided it's time to move. No problems with service or anything like that yet, but I'm still paying the monthly price I got back in 2004 and can do better now. I'm pretty sure I'll go with O2 or Be.

I've had my calls through OneTel for many years too, and last May switched my line rental to them too. TalkTalk bought OneTel though and have told me I'm going to be switched to one of their call plans sometime in the next couple of months. Still no problems so far.

The issue I'm having is that in researching which provider to go for I've found that often listed in the requirements are "BT Phone line". At first I assumed this simply meant that I not be using an alternative like Virgin's cable network, and so on, since my actual, physical phone line is, to the best of my knowledge, the same as it always was. It seemed best to ask and make sure, though.

So I called O2 and asked them if it was possible to sign up and still have my line rental and calls through TalkTalk instead of BT, and explained my reasons for asking. I was given a flat "No. It has to be BT.".

I was wondering why this might be, and called Be just to make sure. They initially said the same thing, but then asked for my phone number and came back a minute later saying "Actually, you're on the list so you're okay. You can stick with TalkTalk and still sign up to us".

So is this something I should be concerned about? If I decide to go with O2 will I need to change? Admittedly moving from TalkTalk is something I was considering anyway so going back to BT is a possibility, but I wanted to know how it worked before I started making potentiall expensive decisions.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help me.


Jason

a line with a phone service provided by BT, even if resold via various methods through someone else, is still a BT line. The exceptions would be cable phone lines or fully unbundled lines with say Bulldog or TalkTalk providing voice calls and broadband on their own hardware.

The real problem seems to be that providers are giving mixed messages. Some seem to insist on a "BT" line and interpret that as one where the line rental is paid to BT, and others interpret as per yarwell.

Too many people are being "convinced" that they have to change back to "BT" in order to change to their provider of choice.

If I was cynical, I might think that is a great money-spinner for "BT".

PS I haven't had this problem with any transfers to UW that I have done - all they wan't to know is the current provider if it isn't BT.