Upgrading from Unlimited Fibre to SOGEA

[#1]

I am asking this mostly as a reassurance for myself, since changing any services always make me nervous, particularly when I am not sure what to expect. 

My current setup is FTTC over a BT copper landline + telephone service. After sitting on the fence for ages about whether to keep my landline number or not, I finally decided that I can live without the landline since it is barely used anyway. I can aware I can port it to a VOIP if I really want but have deemed it too much hassle and not worth it. 

I have just ordered an upgrade to the part-fibre SOGEA and given an activation date of next week 7-Apr. 

I had previously asked and been told that from an equipment point-of-view, it is all exactly the same as what I have currently so I don't need to change any hardware etc. 

• Is there anything I need to do on the day, or will the 'switch' simply occur on? 
• Should I expect some sort of service interruption on the day? If so, how long and when will it typically occur? 
• I don't believe I need to contact BT afterwards, and Plusnet will handle cancelling my existing BT service. Is this correct? 

I am just anxious that I might have overlooked something and want to double-check with more experienced members of the community. 

Thanks & regards,

Simon

[#2]

@SimonC1 

The switch happens at the Exchange. Your broadband might be down for a short period.

If your landline is BT then you might be liable for Early Termination Charges. The line is automatically cancelled as it doesn't work with SOGEA.

You could keep the number for a £15 port charge and £1.44 a month with A&A. If you set all cvalles to Voicemail then A&A  will email the the message. You have 30 days to port the number.

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

Brian

[#3 · Accepted solution]

@SimonC1 

Is there anything I need to do on the day, or will the 'switch' simply occur on? The switch will just occur, and you will be informed when it is completed.

Should I expect some sort of service interruption on the day? If so, how long and when will it typically occur? AFAIK, there is no interruption, as it is merely a removal of the voice component of your connection, which is the flick of an electronic switch.

I don't believe I need to contact BT afterwards, and Plusnet will handle cancelling my existing BT service. Is this correct? Again, AFAIK, if your phone service is with BT, rather than PN, the switch will cancel your voice service, and BT will contact you if it involves ETC's or refunds.

[#4]

Thank you both. And thanks bmc for the link to A&A. I don't think I will be doing that but it is useful for anyone else in a similar situation who wants to keep their landline number. 

Regards,

Simon

[#5]

@SimonC1 @bmc A&A charges are slightly higher now, I think ported in numbers are IIRC £1.80 per month, not sure on the porting in charge, it might be just £12 (inc VAT).

[#6]

Today was my activation / product change date, so I thought I should give an update on my experience. 

I was away from home at work all day. The wi-fi / Internet was up when I left for work in the morning and when I got home in the evening. I received an email from Plusnet around 1.30pm to say the order was complete. Checking my router log now, it looks like it disconnected at some point and reconnected around 00:30 AM. Since I was checking something around 11.30pm it would had been after that so any downtime was less than an hour.  Basically I didn't notice it. 

I don't usually check so can't be sure but I think the new connected down speed reported by the router is higher than it used to be. Don't know if this is because my previous Unlimited Fibre was capped in some way. Old speed was fine anyway but if it's faster now, then that's just gravy. 

No dial tone on my home phone, so the BT landline service have been disconnected. I have not heard anything from BT though. I was expecting some sort of contact to confirm the end-of-service, but no call or email. I don't manage it online though so can't double-check that way - I set things up 23 years ago and had ignored it since then. Maybe something is in the post and with the Easter weekend / Royal Mail being rubbish, I just haven't received it yet. 

All-in-all, no disruption and no real problems from Plusnet. Good job! The only complaint I might have is you cannot see the order details or progress online. It just tells you there is an error or, on certain other pages, that an order is in progress. They may want to fix that so it's more informative, or amend their order confirmation email template since it claims you can check and provides a link that doesn't seem to go anywhere.  

Now just have to wait-and-see from BT.  

[#7]

Final update from me about my upgrade process.

Today I finally received a letter from BT, dated 31-Mar-2026, confirming they received the cancellation (or rather they wrote that I was moving to another provider). I guess it would had been automatically generated (I did the upgrade online late evening on 31-Mar) and they posted it in the slowest Royal Mail post possible, though I expect Easter Weekend didn't help. 

I guess that's all done then and everything was fine without any interruption.