Is BT correct?

[#1]

I currently use BT for landline only and Plusnet for Broadband. BT have just sent me a letter claiming that "you can no longer take broadband and landline from different providers" due to digital upgrade.

". . . you'll need to switch to BT Broadband etc etc"

Is this true?

[#2]

@Biz55 

Half true.

PSTN is being phased out this year. Your current internet connection depends on the landline so action is required.

Do you still need / use the landline?

Either way you have two options. First, move to an ISP which offers both phone (VOIP) and internet. PN will transfer you to EE free of early termination fees.

Second, you can stay with PN and move to an internet only connection. If the phone matters, then you have 30 days to port the number to a VOIP provider.

Brian

[#3]

@Biz55 

It is true if BT are pulling the plug on the old analogue PSTN phone service, as part of their shut down process, in your area. That's apart from the insistance that you must move to BT. I don't know what the implications are with respect to any Early Termination Charges if you cancel the BT landline and move your phone number to a third party VoIP provider.

BT are in the process of working around their customer base converting all their PSTN users, area by area, to their 'Digital Phone' version, carried over their internet service. This will automatically cancel your Plusnet service. If you use Plusnet email that has not yet been moved yet to Greenby and uses the IMAP protocol, this will be disconnected and all past sent and received emails immediately deleted.

So take this warning seriously.

[#4]

Hi

I got that very annoying letter yesterday. I phoned up the number on the letter, but just got to a foreign call center that couldn't explain when this was happening. I then phoned up BT on the number to report a fault, and got through to someone with more knowledge, but who still could not explain when this was happening. But by chance I found this (https://www.plus.net/member-centre/offers-and-upgrades/pre-query) on the plusnet website which does give a better explanation of what is happening (i.e "Our broadband packages which use a landline will no longer be supported from January 2027").

My current opinion is that we have a bit of thinking time  (i.e. this year) to plan what to do

[#5]

@Tallboy 

If you are the same as the original OP, ie BT landline and PN internet then you don't have much time. You need to take action soon.

BT are switching all their landlines to Digital Voice (their VOIP offering) on a region by region basis. If you've get the letter then you're now on the schedule.

Without your landline you PN account will be cancelled and you'll lose internet.

Brian

[#6]

@Tallboy What are your current options on here: https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL ?

I would be planning your strategy now, before everyone else in your position suddenly realises they have to make hasty/snap decisions.

[#7]

@Biz55 

That is your choice.

You have the choice of choosing what to do as soon as possible or wait until BT decides to convert their customers using analog phones connected to your local exchange to digital voice, at some undefined time between now and the end of the year.
Providing that everything is working correctly, this should be signalled to you with a “sorry you are leaving us” message from Plusnet.

[#8]

OK I think I understand. To be honest I only have kept my land line telephone  as an emergency back up if I haven't got a working mobile

So as I see it today, we have three choices:

1. Move to Plusnet broad band (and get a SIM only phone as a backup  --such as  a cheap deal from ASDA) lose the land line phone

2. Move to BT, keep my land line. But what then happens to my Plus-Net email, as I haven't been migrated to Greenby yet. Could I get BT to do a redirect to my xxx@xxx.plus.com emails?

3. Move to EE as recommended by Plus-net. But again, how  would my email migration work

At the moment I'm leaning towards option 1 (i.e. stay with Plusnet ) as it is likely to be the most painless option in the short term because email is more important to me than a land-line. But I also am going to explore open source MS Teams like systems to see if they can do audio calls to a landline,

[#9]

@Tallboy 

If you leave PN before your email is migrated you lose the address.

If staying with PN have a think about VOIP.  A&A offer good value, especially as you make few outgoing calls on the landline.

https://www.aa.net.uk/voice-and-mobile/voip-information/

Remember VOIP does not work during power cuts. Your mobile will only last as long as the battery backup at the Cell Tower.

Brian

[#10]

@Biz55 

In your situation my advice would be to contact Plusnet and switch your account to SoGEA. This will cancel your BT phone service. Once this is cancelled you have 30 days to transfer the phone number to a third part VoIP service. There is a bit of a set up cost as you need an interface to plug into your router plus the connection fee, but then the monthly fee is minimal.

This might sound daunting if you are not familiar with the process, but it's not in practice and there's plenty of help here.

If you're looking at a cheap mobile phone service then look at some of the MVNOs available on line as well as those from supermarkets. Also consider which company provides the best mobile signal in your neightbourhood. Uswitch is a good source of both deals and the carrier network.

[#11]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Broadand to :My Account / Billing

[#12]

Back to the tenant of the original question…

---

@Biz55 wrote:

I currently use BT for landline only and Plusnet for Broadband. BT have just sent me a letter claiming that "you can no longer take broadband and landline from different providers" due to digital upgrade.

". . . you'll need to switch to BT Broadband etc etc"

Is this true?

---

No, this is not true: you can take voice and broadband from whomever you wish independently of each other.  You do not need to switch to BT Broadband… if one of the two fibre technologies is available.

Unless you are in a fibre not spot this is nothing more than scare tactics for you to place all of your business with BT Retail.

The PTSN network is being phased out and BT is moving users off PTSN voice services.  Where a user has voice from BT and broadband from elsewhere there are complications which need to be managed.  BT terminating the voice service as is, will also cancel the Plusnet broadband service, as that is provided over the voice connection.

The future is voice delivered over the broadband connection.  If the voice is to remain with BT then because they use proprietary methods (digital voice), you will have to take broadband from them.  If fibre is available you can get your broadband from whoever and VoIP from a supplier of your choice.  Some providers will offer both in a single package, Plusnet does not.

As others suggest, if you want to keep broadband with Plusnet, get them to take the lead - switch to SoGEA or upgrade to FTTP.  You will probably save a lot of money because if you have distinct service provision you’ll probably be out of contract.

If you want to keep the existing number you’ll have 30 days after the existing service is terminated to move the number to a VoIP provider.  If you do not want to keep the number, you do not need to do anything.

IMPERATIVE: if you want to keep the Plusnet service take urgent action with Plusnet before BT scuppers everything. DO NOT leave BT “in charge”.

[#13]

Are you on FTTC or FTTP?

if you dont know, does your router plug into a phone socket, like your phone, or is it plugged into a little white box with green flashing lights?

If you are on a separate broadband only account with plusnet and a separate phone contract with BT odds on you are paying significantly more than you should.

Heres what I would do in your situation, look at prices for full fibre - and if its available in your area, if it is then move to a full fibre contrac, once that is running then look at starting to port your landline number to a voip provider.

 Although I was not on a separate broadband, separate phone contract i ported to Voip ( digital voice/ Voice Over Internet Protocol) like this:

Signed up to Plusnet FTTP ( full fibre) while keeping the old service going

As soon as the FTTP ( full fibre) service with plusnet was running, I signed up with Voipfone and ported the number across to Voiphone and purchased an adaptor from voipfone ( Grandstream HT80)  

Once the number was ported to the Voip provider the old internet+phone account and service was automatically ceased with no need to call and cancel 

The phone adaptor (HT801) arrived pre-configured for my voipfone account 

The HT801 phone adaptor is a little black box, it is/can be powered by a USB cable, and my router ( as does the plusnet Hub whatever) has a USB port, another littel cable plugs into an ethernet port on the router and an ethernet port on the HT801 

The whole set up is pain free and just works, sitting there in the background doing what its supposed to.

Cost wise:

 Plusnet Full fibre £26/month

Voipfone service £6/month with 100 minutes included 

Phone and Broadband £32/month

plus a one off cost of £74 for the HT801 - i know you can get cheaper elsewhere, but the pre configured plug and play unlocked option guaranteed to work for Voipfone was the deal breaker, plus unlocked means I can port my landline to other providers should i wish to do so

If you add in the HT801 hardware cost that comes to £6.16/month over 12 months, £3 over 24 months and £2/month over three years 

I've got a few battery back ups in the mix, but the im happy with the basic set up, I was surprised at how simple it was to set up and port the numbers across, and its all a bit dull as it just sits there doing its thing 

[#14]

I have also received the same letter from BT.

It states "If you don't do anything, you could lose access to your current broadband service when your home phone service is upgraded."

The use of the word "could" rather than "will" seems to imply that you may not lose access.

What if the BT landline service is in a different name to the PlusNet service. BT would be terminating a contract that has no relationship to the BT customer.

[#15]

@steed 

The PN service requires a working landline. If it gets cancelled then the broadband service goes to.

Brian