What happens to phone service if I cancel broadband

[Christine]

So, my elderly father currently has bt broadband and landline phone service.

He gets a poor service, only 2 to 3 mbps with no sign of a fibre upgrade due to his remote location.

He has recently been upgraded to digital voice.

What happens these days if he were to cancel the broadband service, can bt still supply his landline phone service, and what Wong be the appropriate cost per month?

He currently pays £70 per month with 700 voice minutes included which is rather high?

Answers appreciated 🙂

[Kimberlin]

@Christine  £70 a month for a phone line and poor quality broadband sounds terrible, especially if perhaps he doesn’t use the full 700 inclusive minutes a month?

Is your Father on the rolling 30 day payment? If so, perhaps it’s time he called BT to speak to an advisor, probably with you present, and revise his terms. It’s sad when we read of monthly payments like your Father’s, especially when folks on social tariffs for example, are probably getting a better service at probably a third of the cost.

[iniltous]

Unless he has extras that you haven’t mentioned, he is paying way too much ,  and he clearly has never renegotiated or recontracted , he is paying roughly twice what most people pay with BT pay for broadband and phone , for example my broadband and telephone with BT is around £30 , if I took unlimited calls it would be £9 more .

If he got rid of broadband, and went to a phone only service , that is tricky as  ordinary telephone service (PSTN) isn’t available anymore and it’s usual replacement DV (digital voice) effectively needs BT  broadband, so the chances are he would get a PDPL (pre digital phone line) which is similar to an ordinary telephone but isn’t PSTN or DV , but a cut down version of telephony that resembles a PSTN service (so no router , no mains powered device) required however the standard price for a standalone phone line with Anytime calls (700 mins doesn’t seem available to new customers which is what he would effectively be ) is £49.20 , there may be a discount if doesn’t take broadband from anyone on another network like Virgin , or an Alt Net but even so it’s not going to be much if a savings compared to the £30-£40 he could get by calling and asking for a better deal .

[imjolly]

does your father qualify for home essentials   https://www.bt.com/broadband/home-essentials?s_cid=con_bt_dg-home_awin_aff_vidAJM_110483-Editorial+C...

if he does this is the cost with significant saving

social tariff

[Christine]

Unfortunately he doesn’t qualify for any social tariff

[Christine]

I was hoping he could just have a phone service without broadband ?

[iniltous]

He should be able to have a standalone phone line , but as stated it’s not really much cheaper than broadband and phone together, the price you are paying for broadband and phone is not typical, you can probably half the price you pay simply by calling and recontracting.

[Kimberlin]

@Christine  To put things in perspective, new customers to BT can have Fibre 2 with phone, for £31.99 a month on a 24 month contract plus a £60 reward card.

There are deals to be had out there as long as there is the will to stand your corner with BT on negotiation or your Father is willing to switch to a new provider.

[Jane2018]

This is the safest thing he can do in my view with least risk. First have a second  broadband account with a different provider put in (which charges less) and have two broadband accounts both working in the house and leaving digital voice on the BT broadband.

Then buy a £6 month service from a company like VOIPfone (100 inclusive minutes is what I get for that). I also bought a device from them to plug into my new different broadband provider (not BT) and apply to Voidfone not BT to port the number to voipfone.  

Bt will then port/move the number over if you fill in a form with voipfone within about a week and you will be with a different provider than BT and have moved the number over only after you have the 2nd broadband line up and running fine.  

Then BT cancel your broadband automatically when you ask to port the number to the new provider. 

That sequence worked well for me and kept my telephone number I had had since the 1990s. It did mean for a month or so i was paying BT broadband and another provider and it did mean I had to spoend about £80 on the voipfone device thing but it does mean I am  future proofed as well in that my broadband is separate from the phone and were I ever to change broadband provider again I would not porting the number. In my case I have community fibre for broadband and voidfone plugged into community fibre for the landline.

[pddco]

@Jane2018 I think the OP simply wants, ideally, to just have a phone service.. or at least the cheapest way of having it. No doubt what you’ve ended up with works well for you, but it hardly seems straightforward for us mere mortals. As suggested by others, armed with an idea of realistic charges to aim for, I’m sure a call to BT will get this sorted with the monthly charges dramatically reduced.