Landline with BT, ADSL with Sky - BT forcing cancellation of broadband

[chrisjp]

Since, under OFCOM rules, you can sign up with a new broadband supplier and they will do everything needed to cancel your service with your existing supplier, it seems possible that BT DID initiate the termination of the OP's Sky broadband service.
In common with a lot of the issues we see on this forum, both BT and Sky have been woefully inadequate in keeping their customer informed about what is happening.
So, yes, iniltous, I do think your initial comment was a bit overly aggressive.

[iniltous]

Sky LLU is available, so at some point in the distant past Sky will have made an offer to arrange the transfer the telephony from BT to Sky (a SMPF to MPF transfer ) that would have removed BT entirely from the equation, dialtone being provided from Sky equipment not BT’s , for whatever reason that offer was not taken , but surprisingly refusal didn’t result in Sky withdrawing the ‘off net’ non MPF LLU broadband which is what they claimed at the time would happen .

It does mean that both BT or Sky can offer a combined broadband and telephone service , it’s really a case of picking one or the other .

To the point that Sky said it was BT that raised the Sky broadband cease order , via some mythical 3rd party cease team is utter nonsense, the only way Sky could lose a customer without them driving that , is if BT requested a migration of broadband , and there is no evidence of that,  what's more although the OP has said they received a Sky ‘ goodbye’ communication, there has been no corresponding ‘Hello’ communication from BT , hence it’s not a migration and BT have not had any involvement in Skys cessation ,that is entirely a result of Skys own actions , so unsurprisingly any request to BT to cancel a Sky order has failed , if BT said they could cancel that Sky order presumably they mistaking assumed a migration to BT was on file ( when it wasn’t ) 

If this were a ‘slamming’ type migration attempt (the only way BT could cease Sky service  ) the current migration OTS system (one touch switching) given the date the OP has said this happened would be used and not the previous NoTs (notice of transfer ) system and OTS doesn’t have the cancel other providers orders function, plus neither system could  automate customers with SMPF arrangements anyway , and the OP has never suggested BT were trying to ‘slam’  the customers  broadband supplier from Sky to BT , all the OP has said is that Sky have stated they will stop providing broadband on a particular date .

As stated , pick a provider to deliver both services , shared metallic paths are no longer supported, you can’t have BT and Sky each billing for a single service on an Openreach connection, it may be a short term hassle , the financial benefit should more than compensate for that aggravation. 

[sia555]

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In my first post I stated BT sent a letter saying the landline was being upgraded.  No mention of digital voice or that they would be stopping the Sky broadband.  Shortly after this letter was received Sky then contacted us about the broadband being stopped.

There has been no communication regarding the need to have both services with one provider.  

From memory sky never communicated about needing their landline service - maybe a fact that this is a legacy contract from when O2 were in the broadband market.

Not sure why you need to make snarky remarks about a mythical team - I've got the number if you'd like to phone them to see if they exist.

[iniltous]

I’m not sure the value of going over the same ground , your SMPF service delivered telephony from BT over the PSTN (publicly switched telephone network) this is what’s being retired by Jan 2027 , no one can stay on PSTN , the BT replacement is called DV , Digital Voice .

If the letter you received had a date saying your telephone service will change on a particular date , that’s one thing, but if it were a general ‘information’ notice , then it’s nothing more than highlighting the change , and the need for it ….did the BT communication contain a date ?

BT sending this out and Sky arbitrarily removing your broadband are not linked , apart from both organisations need to act as deadlines are fast approaching , BT because PSTN is at end of life , and Sky because SMPF is a product that cannot exist in the modern world where everything is IP (internet protocol) including telephony.

BT didn’t switch off your Sky broadband, if your telephony is still working then (and it seems it is ) BT haven’t even touched your BT phone service yet…..Sky could and arguably should have contacted you and explained the situation and (as they did in the past ) ask you to make a choice , join them for telephony as well as broadband (obviously that’s their preference) or leave Sky broadband on this legacy SMPF arrangement.

If my point wasn’t clear , I’ll reiterate it , BT cannot cease your Sky service , that is impossible, imagine the communication,
BT , hello Sky we would like to cease your broadband,
Sky , OK , what’s the name on the account
BT , We don’t know
Sky , What’s the Sky broadband account number ?
BT , We don’t know
Sky , Are you acting for the account holder ?
BT , No
Sky , Get lost
if it were a migration (which is possible on other products but not SMPF ) then you would have received a ‘welcome’ notice , contract information etc from BT not just a generic ‘DV is coming , you need to be aware ‘ type communication which seems to be the case .
As it is , your entire point of view is based on Sky saying ‘it’s not us Governor, it’s them’ , regardless of you believing that or not , you need to to make a decision, you can’t go back to how it was , what’s more if you could , how could BT re-order broadband service for you from Sky ?
You obviously are at liberty to believe what you want to believe and if you want to believe BT can cancel your Sky broadband that’s upto you ….however if you want your broadband back you need to order it from someone.

[Kimberlin]

@iniltous 

You're very much correct, there's little point in you going over the same monologue. The OP should now be fully aware of the situation.

Hopefully, a Moderator will lock this thread soon because it's just repeating itself, that or move it to the Lounge where you can argue as much as you like.

[tonysmini018]

What I think has happened is that BT retail only had your phone on their systems and no note to say Sky shared the line, (BT Wholesale held that and it is a seperate arm of the group). When upgrading to DV it changes your line from PSTN to a SOTAP service that requires a broadband connection as the phone will plug in to a router to work.
When this happened, it’s inadvertently triggered the cease of the Sky BB service when the PSTN cease order was placed, there’s no longer a working landline for Sky to piggyback on and to be fair, they should have realised this when you called them.  How you still had this BT/Sky set up amazes me as it should have been ceased years ago.

As said, now you/your father need to decide which provider to go with. Personally I would stick with BT as the swap to digital voice has stated so it should avoid any number porting issues.

[Jane2018]

If your father is now going to choose between BT and Sky (for broadband and landline) stick with BT as that won't involving porting the number over and losing a number he may have used for years. It seems to go wrong quite a bit and people lose the number for ever if they try to move it to another provider.