Keeping existing landline but upgrading to Full fibre

[adrijohn]

Evening, look for some help please.

I currently have a landline phone contract with BT and a broadband only deal with plusnet that is now out of contract. Having both separately has never been an issue but I seem to having problems now trying to upgrade to Full fibre with plusnet and keep my existing landline with BT which is needed to my living circumstances.

Despite being told on 2 separate occasions from plusnet there wouldn't be any issues in keeping the landline with BT, on putting orders in for FTTP I have received emails on the contrary saying that I'm thinking of leaving BT and moving my phone line to another provider which is not what I want.

Is there anyway to avoid this or is this inevitable change that happens in upgrading to FTTP?

[Keith_Beddoe · Accepted solution]

@adrijohn 

This is a BT Retail customer forum.

As you are a Plusnet broadband customer, you need to post on their forum.

https://community.plus.net/t5/Forum/ct-p/Forum

Moving to FTTP will result in losing your copper phone line, as that is what Openreach are doing, as they recover the copper routing in order to provide space for the fibre.

You may be able to port your phone number over to VOIP, or whatever Plusnet use to carry calls over the Internet.

[adrijohn]

Thanks for the answer.

I have already posted in the plusnet forum but I was also seeking info from the BT side as I'm a BT customer as well.

[rbz5416]

It's all a bit of a mess unfortunately.

In theory, to achieve what you want you should  be able to place an order for a new FTTP service with Plusnet, rather than upgrade the exiting. That should  keep any link to your BT phone line separate. Once it's up & running you then should  be able to cease the original broadband service with Plusnet while keeping the BT phone.

As above, you're only postponing the inevitable though so it might make more finacial & logistical sense to combine the two services.

[Keith_Beddoe]

You have very old legacy arrangement, where phone and broadband were separate. This arrangement is no longer available on the Openreach network.

The only issue I can see, is that if you want to keep the same phone number. You would need to see if Plusnet can port your BT phone number over to their equivalent VOIP like BT Digital Voice. 

[iniltous]

On the two occasions you have tried to order FTTP and received the ‘sorry to see you leave’ communication from BT , who was the FTTP order with ?,

if it’s Plusnet ( they only recently started to offer FTTP ) then the link between the two ‘copper pair’ services,  ( as stated and old legacy product called SMPF , shared metallic path facility ) is somehow advising BT that you want to leave , but TBH , that’s probably an error on PN part , but you cannot have SMPF with FTTP , for one thing , there isn’t a metallic path with FTTP .

It ought to be possible ( if you are still prepared to pay more than necessary, but you are probably already doing that ) , for PN to simply cease your current SMPF broadband, reverting your copper line from SMPF to a standard PSTN line with BT  ( so you then have an ordinary  PSTN copper pair phone line with BT billing you for it  ) , then PN order  you a FTTP service with no phone service, that would maintain what you have ( bills from two providers , one for phone and one for broadband ) the PN broadband  then being FTTP broadband rather than SMPF broadband.

The alternative is to use BT for both ( assuming this isn’t what you have already tried the 2x previously  ) , although the process would be that by ordering FTTP with BT , using the phone number as the ‘driver’ it would automatically cease your SMPF broadband with PN, if you don’t want to use BT ( then apart from this not being the appropriate forum for you )  it’s really between you and PN to sort out .

You are probably one of very few remaining SMPF consumers, most would have been offered the option to transfer the phone service from BT onto whoever provided the broadband service ( so one bill ) and consequently the PN customer service agents etc.  probably don’t have much if any experience of arranging what you want , especially with a product they have only just started ‘selling’ , and that presumes a process was implemented at a wholesale level , for such a small subset of consumers 

[adrijohn]

Morning.

Yes both times have been with plusnet and have been within the last week. After the first time I called BT and said that I didn't want to leave and that basically cancelled the plusnet order. When I called plusnet back they said that shouldn't have happened and placed the order again but the same thing did.

Basically I live with my elderly grandad who has various medical equipment (pendant etc.) hooked up to the BT phone line. When I moved in there was no internet on the premises so took out a broadband only deal with PN as I didn't what to interfere with the BT landline service that he has had for years.

But from what I'm reading it's looking like I should be focusing on getting fttp with BT if it's going to avoid any complications. But this was something I was trying to avoid as I wanted to keep the phone and landline separate as I pay for one and my grandad pays for the other.

[iniltous]

TBH , it should be possible to get a separate ‘standalone’ FTTP service , you simply don’t mention the existing phone line when ordering FTTP , if PN associate the address with the SMPF existing service , it will fail again ( in that BT will be advised and they will ( correctly ) state ‘sorry to see you leave ‘ and you will have to cancel and start again so as not to to put at risk the copper pair phone service .

All you really need to do , with BT or whoever , is convince them that a brand new , not linked to anything or anyone ,stand-alone  FTTP service is needed , and if they notice that there is an existing phone / broadband service at the address  , it has to be maintained regardless , assuming you can get it done , after the FTTP is in and working ,  you contact PN ( even if it’s them that provide the standalone FTTP ) and tell them to cease  SMPF broadband , leaving the BT phone line in place ,  obviously you could pay for both broadbands if you wanted , but in the first place it’s the totally separate FTTP that’s needed first.

[jac_95]

Or maybe a more simpler option, port the landline phone number to a VoIP third party which would be billed separately to either PlusNet or BT Consumer providing the FTTP broadband service.

[iniltous]

The OP states that their relative has various devices that hang on the copper phone line , and although eventually they will have to be made VoIP compatible, at this point , moving the phone number to a separate VoIP provider will probably remove the PSTN service that hosts them , this is what the OP is trying to avoid