Moving to BT without ETC

[paul_edwin]

I'm thinking of moving our broadband service to BT, purely because it seems like the most cost-effective way to continue to get BT Sport.

There's still ~12 months left on our 18-month contract, so I suspect we're liable to a hefty ETC of £160+, but I've seen suggestions on this forum that if I speak to Plusnet's Customer Options Team first, they can put a marker on the account, so we wouldn't need to pay the ETC.

Can somebody clarify if that's really the case? Or would it only apply if we were moving to a broadband product that Plusnet couldn't supply? (FTTP sadly isn't available here yet.)

[RealAleMadrid]

@paul_edwin  I may be wrong but I think ETCs are cancelled only if you move to BT FTTP so that would not apply in your case.

 I thought BT sport was changing anyway to some joint venture, no idea what the price might be.

[paul_edwin]

Yeah, I know it's possible to move to BT FTTP or BT Essentials without paying ETC, I'd just like the situation clarifying regarding other moves.

Plusnet's BT Sport offering will cease on 5th July. Unless I've missed something, there will then be three ways of getting the BT Sport bundle[0]:

1. With a BT broadband connection (currently £10 per month on top of the broadband fees)
2. Monthly pass (currently £29.99 per month)
3. Via a Sky box (£22 to £29.99 per month, depending on your existing situation)

Option 1 seems like the optimal solution, because we don't watch enough of it to justify £29.99 per month, but not if we have to pay a large ETC to move from the Plusnet service that we're otherwise quite happy with.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BT_Sport#Joint_venture_with_Warner_Bros._Discovery,_TNT_Sports

[willcutforth · Accepted solution]

Hey there @paul_edwin how are you doing? Are you alright? 

Unfortunately we can't waive the ETC's for cancelling for BT Sport as it's not a contracted product. It was always a month by month service and not attached to the actual contractual side of things.

I hope this helps.

[paul_edwin]

Thanks for the confirmation. I realise BT Sport wasn't part of the broadband contract, so that itself couldn't justify waiving the ETC, but it's good to have clarification that there's no way of moving to BT without paying the ETC.

[willcutforth]

No worries, if you have any other queries about it just drop me a message.