Hi, I hope somebody might have some advice for me, I am currently with VirginMedia, and have had problems with them in the past where I have looked at possibly switching to BT for my phone and sky for TV/Broadband. But always had to hold back on doing so because of BT install charge of £125. I used to have BT but they have completely disconnected the line from the exchange. In the past they have said I could pay in monthly installments but that would up my outgoings by £12 a month so its not really an option.

I am now being forced to look into other options because of money issues, and was wondering if anybody could give me advice on a way around the install charge, or if any of the other landline providers can do installation at a cheaper rate without already having an active BT line in place.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Will.

The £125 is a standard charge set by Ofcom. Their is no way around getting it cheaper. Other providers can do the line install but they will charge more as they need to make profit on the product (the line install).

Just gonna have to grit your teeth and bear the cost. No way around it, no way of getting it cheaper is the bottom line.

There are other companies that will do it cheaper actually. Google it.

also seeing as you wanna take up sky i'm sure i saw somewhere that they will re-imburse the install fee(you have to ask them for the form) though not sure if this only applys if your taking their b/band and/or sky talk.

You could port your number to a VoIP service - then pay only a couple of pounds a month for a service will allow you to receive calls.

That's if you keep your Virgin Broadband...

That isn't right at all.

Openreach levy a charge and it is up to the various CPs how much they charge the EU.

There are CPs who charge less than the £124.99 BT Retail charge.

there is a thread on thedvdforums for this. the posts indicate it costs £30 and is a special offer for signing up for 18months.

see

http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/s...d.php?t=507347

Hmm, I looked into this a while ago and was led to believe that the charge by BTR was standard industry wide.

Other CPs may decide to charge the same amount as BT Retail but it is up to them how much they charge.

Madasafish charge £115, Plus.net charge £105. Ironically they are both owned by BT.

BT has a Universal Service Obligation and has to offer a new line at a standard price, providing the actual costs of providing it doesnt exceed something like £4k, after which the extra can be charged to the customer.
This is where Ofcom come in as the price is agreed and monitored by with them as the whole thing should be cost neutral to BT.