BT connection query

[James Vertigan]

After much talk we are finally progressing to Broadband connection! I rang BT last week and an appointment is arranged for an engineer to come and connect one of our NTL lines to BT on Thursday afternoon.

There is one small problem though, and I'm not sure how they can get around it, but we have 2 lines with NTL, the one we currently use as a fax and modem line and want to use as the broadband line has always been with NTL since we moved in... We have a telegraph pole outside the house which looks as though it is still connected to the house but is obviously disabled at present... this was for the old telephone line that was in before we moved in, so, can it still be transferred to our fax/modem line even though that line has always been with NTL?

[DeadKenny]

BT won't touch your physical NTL lines. They are NTL property. I assume they go underground (usually do).

BT will reconnect the one on the pole. If you don't have a BT socket they'll install one (and will most likely charge you the £75 full connection fee. If you do have a BT socket they shouldn't charge you, though in my case they did because their computer had no record of an existing connection. The engineer did have to do some reconnection work at the exchange due to being disconnected for so long, so they might count that as a full connection though I will probably argue that as I had an existing socket it should be free reconnection).

The only thing BT will do in relation to NTL is transfer the phone number if you requested that. If you're getting both lines transferred they'll install two lines on the BT socket. They then request a transfer of the number(s) which will mean the NTL line(s) will become dead and the BT line(s) will be active. If you don't request a number transfer the NTL line(s) will remain active until you cancel them and you'll have new numbers on the BT line(s).

Your NTL socket(s) will remain.

If you want BT to connect any internal extensions to the BT socket instead of the NTL socket they can do that but they might charge for the work. Alternatively you can do it yourself if you know what you're doing (though you're not supposed to mess with the master BT socket officially).