Anyone know a way round the BT installation fee?

[wolverine]

anyone know any way round it? (

 

You could give Plusnet a call on 0845 1400 200 and select the option for sales, they will install a BT line for you for £105 (which is what they are charged by BTw). When you take broadband with Plusnet, you can get Home Phone for only £1.99 a month for the first 3 months, then just £9.75 a month for the remainder of the 12 month contract which beats what you would have to pay BT.

 

If there's a physical Line and BT Phone point in the flat, its not a £124 installation charge, that only applies if the engineer needs to put a phone socket in, and cable you up to the exchange, you should only pay an activation charge..

 

The Plusnet sales team have access to check if the line is either just a stopped line (£38.85) or if it requires an engineer (£105)

 

Hope this helps.

 

Mike Trevor

[eltel]

According to the charter BT are not supposed to make a profit out of the install charge.

 

I rang them and they told me that I would have to pay 125quid for the install despite the fact that I know full well that the person in the flat had a bt line that they cancelled 4 days before I moved in.

 

BT must have been perched on the exchange waiting for the removals van to drive away to remove the pins.

 

Why would they do that if they don't make a profit?

 

Trying to imply that sending 2 full time 'engineers' to jumper 2 pins at either end of a fully connected circuit costs 125quid is ludicrous.

 

All of the telephone external network is operated and controlled by Openreach. All the charges are standard and set by Ofcom so each ISP is charged an identical amount. In years gone by, more than one line could use a pair of wires. Now with broadband, every line needs one pair of wires. With the result that there could be a shortage of pairs in some situations, hence why the line would be reallocated quickly. BT themselves have no say or influence on any outside lines, so they don't make a profit.

[HarryBustard]

PlusNet was bought by BT with this showing how the ball started rolling. I wonder if the "steer the same course" plan mentioned at the bottom of the story is still the case - though best not veer from the topic in hand.

[eltel]

PlusNet was bought by BT with this showing how the ball started rolling. I wonder if the "steer the same course" plan mentioned at the bottom of the story is still the case - though best not veer from the topic in hand.

 

Plusnet is owned by BT but, is separate unit from BT. It is however an ISP that is in competition with all other ISPs including, BT retail It, like all the other ISPs uses the network provided by Openreach, and as such pays the same for the line, as any other ISP. What an ISP charges its customer is entirely up to themselves.

[torabian]

Yes sorry acknowledged, force of habit - I still associate openreach as BT.

 

If the emphasis was on economy and value, which it should be for a publically owned company, leaving extra capacity in the central DP for the flat complex (or even adding extra capacity to the local exchange) would be far more cost effective (for the tax payer). Many of the large complexes would justify blowing fibre into the local DP and terminating the copper locally - releaving what must clearly be a massive strain on the local exchange if the connection is required minutes after the last occupant left.

 

This would ultimately be cheaper than paying for vans and engineers to visit DPs and exchanges. After all, a flat complex is by its very nature made up of predominantly transient and migratory occupants.

 

Anyway, my point is, has openreach included the massive increase in revenue they gain for charging these transient customers 125 quid for 5 minutes of an engineers time for the same service that the last occupant had whilst holding their hands out and asking for more money from the government.

 

I have lived in 4 flat complexes in the last 2 years, all of which had clearly had a service until very recently and all of which would unfortunately require a 125 reconnection charge because the computer says no.

 

The shortages in connections in the exchanges all over the country must be generating openreach millions of extra revenue every year. I look forward to reading all about the extra revenue they have saved in the annual report.

[eltel]

Yes sorry acknowledged, force of habit - I still associate openreach as BT.

 

If the emphasis was on economy and value, which it should be for a publically owned company, leaving extra capacity in the central DP for the flat complex (or even adding extra capacity to the local exchange) would be far more cost effective (for the tax payer). Many of the large complexes would justify blowing fibre into the local DP and terminating the copper locally - releaving what must clearly be a massive strain on the local exchange if the connection is required minutes after the last occupant left.

 

This would ultimately be cheaper than paying for vans and engineers to visit DPs and exchanges. After all, a flat complex is by its very nature made up of predominantly transient and migratory occupants.

 

Anyway, my point is, has openreach included the massive increase in revenue they gain for charging these transient customers 125 quid for 5 minutes of an engineers time for the same service that the last occupant had whilst holding their hands out and asking for more money from the government.

 

I have lived in 4 flat complexes in the last 2 years, all of which had clearly had a service until very recently and all of which would unfortunately require a 125 reconnection charge because the computer says no.

 

The shortages in connections in the exchanges all over the country must be generating openreach millions of extra revenue every year. I look forward to reading all about the extra revenue they have saved in the annual report.

 

Openreach is a subsidiary of BT but is controlled by Ofcom and the ISPs who use its services. All prices and charges are set by Ofcom and Openreach bills the ISP according to what work is done, so the full rate won't be levied if all or part of the line and equipment is already there. What The ISP charges is another matter, it sometimes reduces the charges, however they can and do charge the full amount. Openreach does not own the network, but manages the existing network on behalf of the owners, (BT), but by law BT has no input or say in costs or allocation.

Openreach has to be profitable, it is not, or would be bailed out, by the tax payer, but also has to reduce costs year on year. This is now where problems can accur. It would cost billions to provide fibre to all and sundry. No company including BT will spend this amount of money unless it gets a return on its capital. It really is up to Ofcom and the ISPs to guarantee this return, if they don't then BT may not invest in updating the line plant. It is after all a listed company on the stock exchange and is owned by the shareholders, and not the public.

A last point to make is the line plant is distributed via nodes and if the node in question is up to capacity then any ceased line is used. The capacity can be increased but again it is down to cost. Openreach has only a limited mount of resources and has to be cost effective.