Digital voice adapter needs new BT contract

[sandy88]

I've just had a very confusing call with BT about the digital voice switchover due later this month. 

My router is in my study at the front of the house so I can plug my pc in with an ethernet cable. My phone is in the living room at the other end of the house so can't be plugged into the router. I don't use the landline so I rang BT to cancel digital voice as the email instructed.

I'm out of contract and don't want to start a new contract tying me in to BT for another couple of years, but the digital voice  switchover seems to be a ploy to do just that.

I was told by the BT adviser that if I cancel the phoneline and move to a broadband only option, that will start a new contract. He also said I can only get a digital voice adapter for my phone if I start a new contract. And if I want to cancel the anytime minutes I have to start a new contract.

The only option he could give me that did not involve starting a new contract with BT was to cancel the digital switchover and leave phoneline as it is with the anytime minutes package (which I don't want), and that's what he's done. However, the letters I was sent said I'd lose my phoneline if I didn't switch. I'm totally confused now. 

[jac_95]

Hi sandy88,

Thanks for the post and welcome to the Community.

This is an automated response as I can see you have a question about BT’s Digital Voice service. Rather than waiting for a response from the Community, you may find an answer to your question by using the search bar on the Community homepage. We also have a thread that contains a wealth of info related to BT’s Digital Voice, click this link to take a look, Digital Voice FAQs.

To learn more about the nationwide change to this Internet based voice service visit landlinesgo.digital

If you have already looked for the answer to your question and have not found anything that can help, then please ignore this message. One of our Community members will be along shortly to help you further.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@sandy88 

If you are out of contract, you are still on a rolling monthly basis. The move to DV is being instigated by BT, so it should not affect your current status, and BT would have to supply you with a Smart Hub 2 if you wanted to continue your phone service over DV, with your existing service.

You would have to buy a DV adapter yourself if you cannot use the socket on the smart hub 2.

If you have cancelled your DV service, you may have to move to a broadband only package, that would involve a new contract and no phone number.

If you have left things as they are, then you will be moved to DV, and then you can just buy the adapter if you cannot find a way to extent the wiring from the socket on the home hub.

Your rolling monthly package should continue as normal, but I am not sure what would happen to your phone number if you moved provider.

[sandy88]

I have been on a rolling monthly basis since my contract ended as I don't want to be tied into BT for another 2 years. 

I already have a smart hub 2.

The leaflets BT sent say the digital voice adapter is free but when I rang BT they said I couldn't get one without a new contract. Why should I have to buy one?

The man I spoke to at BT didn't seem to know much about digital voice and didn't inspire any confidence at all. He has cancelled digital voice but hasn't moved me to a broadband only service. He says my phone will work exactly the same way as it always has. I don't understand how that can be right if they're switching that service off. Also I still have to pay nearly £10 a month for the unwanted call package which they won't cancel.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@sandy88 

If your DV service has been cancelled, then you are likely to lose your phone service once the PSTN network closes down in 2025.

What is going to happen in your case, is unknown, but you may find that your existing analogue phone service may stop working sooner, or nothing happens at all. It may depend on how soon your local exchange PSTN service is shut down.

See https://www.bt.com/help/landline/digital-voice-migration

It says you can text for a free adapter.

[iniltous]

Migration to DV does not extend your contract, once converted to DV , its up to you if you want to plug a phone into the router , or take advantage of any equipment that BT will supply to integrate your own kit with DV , but obviously if you don’t connect a phone you have a ‘landline’ service you are not using, that your choice.

Some are being offered the opportunity instead of migrating to DV , to remove the landline from broadband using the migration to DV as the trigger , there have been some examples of customers being told that if it’s suitable for them they can simply opt out ( AFAIK this doesn’t extend the contract for broadband ) but if you unilaterally decide that you no longer want a phone service , it’s you changing the terms of the existing contract so a new contract is appropriate.

lit depends if you have been made the offer to drop telephony instead of migrating or not , if you have had the option to drop DV as part of the PSTN switch off it will state it on the DV migration communications  / letter / email , what the process is  , the appropriate customer service team to advise and if it affects your contract etc , if you have rang the usual customer services yourself , or arbitrarily taken it upon your self to drop telephony ( without the offer ) 

[sandy88]

Thanks.  I'll be moving from BT long before 2025. I've been with them since the last century! I moved back to BT after Ionica ceased trading and have been with them ever since and I got their broadband as soon as it was available, but loyalty counts for nothing. I'm not paying over £80 a month for broadband with a phone that won't work when the broadband goes down and a calls package I don't want but can't cancel. I can get broadband for half that price elsewhere.  It's only my email that's kept me but I'll be moving as soon as I get that sorted out.

[sandy88]

it depends if you have been made the offer to drop telephony instead of migrating or not , if you have had the option to drop DV as part of the PSTN switch off it will state it on the DV migration communications  / letter / email , what the process is  , the appropriate customer service team to advise and if it affects your contract etc , if you have rang the usual customer services yourself , or arbitrarily taken it upon your self to drop telephony ( without the offer ) 

The email and literature I was sent about the digital voice switchover said I could get change to a broadband only service or get a free adapter, so yes I was made the offer and was responding to it. 

I don't know how to contact the appropriate customer service team. There is no option on the menus for a dedicated Digital Voice team. I followed the instructions in the mailings. I rang the phone number given on all the documents. It took me to the normal BT call centre with the press 1 for billing etc. and after going through some of the other options I ended up with the Leaving BT team. 

They told me that I couldn't opt out of digital voice and just have broadband unless I started a new contract. Similarly, I could only get a free adapter by starting a new contract. I don't want a new contract!

[iniltous]

If you are paying £80 for your services then you almost certainly have been on a legacy deal and could’ve moved to more competitive package at any time ,( typically £25-£35 for BT FTTC F2 ) anyone ( not just BT customers ) that chose to be on a rolling 30 day contract,after a deal expires , giving them flexibility to quit without any early termination charges are obviously going to be paying handsomely for that option , and if they ultimately don’t exercise that option for possibly a few years ( longer than what a new contract would have committed them to ) they have obviously made a poor decision financially.

In these situations it’s not really the providers fault , and to a great extent, all providers do the same thing, BT even after a minimum term expires has a deal that guarantees that the customer won’t pay more than a new customer, but you have to be on that deal to start with.

….it’s seems a little odd to me that the relatively trivial change to DV has motivated yourself to do something about it , when these options have been available to yourself since your legacy ( poor value ) deal expired , one that you presumably signed up to without anyone holding a gun to your head.

[sandy88]

It isn't the digital voice that has prompted this, I've been intending to move to another provider anyway and I'm in the process of sorting out my email accounts so I can move. I never said I'd been on a rolling contract for years.

I don't know where you get £25 - £35 from because the only prices they've offered me for a new 2 yr contract are only a few pounds less than I'm paying now! Latest offer is £71.69 for Halo 3 with complete wifi or with hybrid connect for £1 more (plus the call package at £9.12). Not much point tying myself in for that tiny saving.

My main concern was that BT won't move me to broadband only or supply an adapter so I could use digital voice unless I take out a new contract, contrary to what their letters told me.