Is there a low usage or "value" plan I can switch to?

[#1]

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@HPsauce wrote:

It strikes me that situation would be in breach of so many contract conditions that a complaint, rectification and compensation would be in order, especially if not clearly warned of in advance. 🤥

I'm not sure that it's much different from an unwitting FTTC customer porting their landline number to VoIP without first downgrading to SOGEA, (or an unaware BT phone user allowing BT to convert them to "Digital Voice"), then discovering that their Plusnet account immediately closes, losing not only their broadband, but also all their emails, static IP, webspace, referrals, etc.

At least in the case of any change of FTTC triggering a loss of landline, that the landline phone number should be in quarantine for 30 days - so there is a window of opportunity to recover the treasured number by porting it to a VoIP provider.

Whereas as incorrectly converting PSTN to digital, the unintended loss of broadband, emails, and all the other things listed above, are probably permanently gone, the only recovery position would be to open a new broadband account and start again with a different email address, new IP address, etc. Even then, if this happened to someone in an "FTTP Priority" area then the customer would likely be forced to have a new FTTP line installed, as the FTTC line they were on (now SOGEA) would no longer available to order.

At least until recently there was the ten day migration hold off period, where the customer should receive notification from the losing provider that their service is due to end shortly - therefore in either of the above circumstances, the customer had a brief period in which to stop the scheduled action if there were unanticipated or unintended consequences.  Now with Ofcom's new "One Touch Switching" procedure,  porting can happen within 24 hours, and has removed service provider's anti-slamming protections against unauthorised line takeovers, so the customer has no chance of halting an unexpected change.

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[#2]

Not sure why there's been so much debate, but thank you for the comments. The FTTP provider is nothing to do with BT/Openreach, they've laid the fibre all round our streets and are coming to blow the last bit in under my driveway in a couple weeks time, in the meantime my BT phone line and PlusNet vDSL subscription will continue to run until I'm happy that FTTP is working. I'm hoping to put the FTTP CPE into modem mode then use my Drayek to manage the WAN connections, allowingme to flip between FTTP and vDSL. I can cancel the PlusNet subscription whilst maintaining the BT phone line as it's all completely separate contracts and providers (once I've got my 4G/5G backup working).

If BT decide to remove my copper landline/phone number, then I should imagine they'll have to lay their own fibre first, which they haven't done yet and according to the openreach web site there is no planned date for it. So I guess that will stay for a while yet unless I decide to cancel it separately. I must admit we don't use the landline much for voice calls these days, but as someone else said I can always port the number to my voip provider of choice, I already have a voip subscription with voipfone for work so could just port it to them. 

[#3]

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@fronty wrote:

Not sure why there's been so much debate, but thank you for the comments.

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@fronty wrote:

I can cancel the PlusNet subscription whilst maintaining the BT phone line as it's all completely separate contracts and providers

The reason for "so much debate" is because YOUR broadband and phone might be from different contracts and providers, but if either provider make any changes on their side, the other providers service is likely to cease without warning ! .

I very much doubt whether your BT landline will still exist, if you cancel your FTTC broadband with Plusnet.

The underlying problem is that Openreach (since 5th September 2023) can no longer process a new change of use order for a copper pair to add or remove features such as voice, ADSL, or VDSL,  which results in voice still being active.  About the only options available to them is to convert voice, ADSL, or FTTC to SOGEA or SOADSL - i.e. NO VOICE.  Therefore Plusnet cancelling your FTTC is likely to kill your BT landline.

I used to have broadband and phone with different providers like you, and had to jump through many difficult hoops to not lose my landline or broadband because of the Openreach 'trap'.

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@fronty wrote:

If BT decide to remove my copper landline/phone number, then I should imagine they'll have to lay their own fibre first

No, if somehow you do manage survive as a BT "phone only" customer, they will force you to have "Digital Voice" over a BT broadband connection using the existing Openreach copper wires before 2026, otherwise your analogue PSTN landline number will simply be switched off.

My ISP recently gave me just 14 days notice that my landline number is being switched off this coming Friday ! - fortunately I have used VoIP for a decade and don't need the phone number associated with my landline, so I'm not bothered - just interested in the process.

If you want to keep your landline phone, I'd suggest following the steps outlined in  Reply #12

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[#4]

Are you sure @outcast about "The underlying problem is that Openreach (since 5th September 2023) can no longer process a new change of use order for a copper pair to add or remove features such as voice, ADSL, or VDSL,  which results in voice still being active."

I cancelled my ADSL-only contract with PlusNet in February 2024 and my underlying BT POTS phone line stayed connected and working until I transferred the number to A&A a while later.

[#5]

There have been a lot of incremental changes to this process since then, so it is difficult to be sure what changed when.

Obviously you were unsure enough a year ago to not risk a straight ADSL to SOGEA upgrade and VoIP transfer.

If you were @fronty today, would you risk it with all the incompetence in the system, that even Gandalf was surprised to find that a FTTC to FTTP upgrade would kill the BT supplied phone number.

Whether I'm exactly right or not,  following my steps in Reply #12  is a safe route forward.

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