Phone line transfer

[GeoffW]

I've got fed up with being over charged for BB with no phone that I'm thinking about giving up my BT line and getting the BB/phone bundle. I'm on 10M so I can get 30M and phone for the same price.

I want to take my number with me but I can't see much detail about that on the site. After reading this post:

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...1335738#M51577

I'm concerned that VM will cock up the line or number transfer, how straightforward should this transfer be?

I thought it would involve them just taking over the BT line but it seems they put a new cable into the BB cabinet. My BB is quite old (originally NTL 512k), how can I find out if it will support phone before I commit to it?

Would I better off getting the phone line on a new number first then transferring?

[nodrogd]

Have a look outside where the omni-box is on your outside wall. If there is siamese cable (2 cables bonded together) going in, then you already have an incoming telephony cable, providing it has remained serviceable. An engineer will be required to install a new master socket & connect at the cabinet end.

When you sign up, ask to transfer your number. You don't even need to contact BT. Virgin will do the whole thing. They will also issue you with a temporary number if it is necessary for continuity purposes.

[MichelleUK]

I recently transferred my BT phone number to an existing Virgin line. It was so easy and trouble free, I wish that I had done it earlier...it is free to do too!

I was expecting all sorts of issues, but Virgin and BT do it all automatically for you, even cancelling the BT phone line. Whatever you do, do not cancel the BT phone line yourself, let the process do it, otherwise you risk losing your existing BT number.

[Tali]

You do have to be aware of the area codes. Where I live, the BT area code is 01384, but VM use Birmingham numbers, 0121. In that case wouldn't be able to take my number with me if I swapped.

[GeoffW]

There is no omni-box, my BB feed is just a single cable that terminates inside the house. Does that mean they need to run a new cable?

[nodrogd]

If you have no siamese cable coming in then the entire drop line from the street cabinet to your house will have to be replaced.