How to keep a voice line with Fibre service

[#1]

*Baldrick1 wrote: To be brutally honest it might be better and just as cheap if she wants to keep her landline phone to move back to BT/EE and take a combined fiibre broadband and digital phone service from them. This is not available from Plusnet.

This will be the same dilemma I will have if/when I recontract with Plusnet for my FTTC & phone line (or even FTTP if that`s available by that time my contract ends this October and FTTP is just as affordable) BUT....I realize the landline will become the issue either mid-contract or at some stage during the time this switch off begins. I`ve read that PN can offer a free switch over to BT/EE without exit/termination fees should this happen mid-contract, which is fine, but at what cost? 

What I wanted to ask is, how much does BT/EE change for their combined BB & digital phone service? Are we looking at around £25 a month or much more? I`m paying £25.99p for both from PN at the moment but I`ve just had the inflation email and the landline is going up by £2.05p a month end of March. My Mother is 85 and although we only keep the home phone for emergencies if she needs to call out when I`m not at home for any reason, she just tells me to ditch it, but I don`t want to be doing that and leaving her without a lifeline. She doesn`t use the internet, that`s for my use only.

[#2]

@plusmouse 

Your situation is different as you are currently taking the phone and Internet service from Plusnet, presumably on a contract. My understanding is that @phguk is referring to a phone service from BT and Internet from Plusnet, which I would anticipate is much more expensive if you add the two service charges.

[#3]

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@plusmouse wrote:

What I wanted to ask is, how much does BT/EE change for their combined BB & digital phone service? 

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If your mother is receiving any benefits (pension credit etc.) she may be eligible for a social tariff. I moved a family member from a Plusnet 4Mbps ADSL + phone + calls package costing >£50pm to BT's social tariff giving 40Mbps FTTC, Digital Voice, and 700 minutes of calls for £15pm.

The switch over was managed very professionally with text messages giving progress and checking broadband was working before switching the phone over - the phone was out of action for only a couple of minutes.

[#4]

Thanks both!

@ corringham: Mum is indeed paid pension credit and I`ve known about these social tariffs for a while but didn`t give them much notice. The BT tariff you mention at £15 a month sounds very generous and markedly cheaper! So something for me to ponder as time goes by and view all options. 

@baldrick1 yes. My FTTC speed and landline will no doubt need to change at some point and my PN contract ends I think this October, so if I want to keep the landline active for Mum`s sake, I need to keep an eye on what`s going to be available before then and hopefully it won`t numb my head too much! 🤕

[#5]

@plusmouse, the family member I mentioned has just moved home this week and had the broadband transferred today. All went very smoothly as before. However, as part of the new contract BT have increased the call allowance from 700 mins per month to unlimited! The price stays the same, and there is no annual increase. Result!

P.S. I understand that Plusnet will allow customers that are eligible to move to a BT social tariff without termination charges, so you may not need to wait until the Plusnet contract ends to move.

[#6]

@corringham wrote : P.S. I understand that Plusnet will allow customers that are eligible to move to a BT social tariff without termination charges, so you may not need to wait until the Plusnet contract ends to move.

Apologies for my late reply, I do appreciate that corringham very much. In bold above, being eligible? I`m presuming we would be but again, I`d need to talk that over with Plusnet nearer my contract end date. Failing that, the other option will be BT Voice for both and a possible phone connection via the router way if anything needs updating. I`m one of those people who prefer to stay with a trusted provider and only have one bill to pay rather than split the phone connection with the broadband and have separate bills with two entities. 

Having no annual increases would be a bonus though! 

[#7]

@plusmouse, BT (or any ISP that provides a social tariff) can check whether an account holder is eligible for a social tariff (i.e. receiving certain benefits) simply by checking their NI number - it takes seconds, so it isn't an onerous qualification process. Plusnet aren't set up to do that (as they don't offer a social tariff) so are likely to be unable to advise.

[#8]

There appears to be a special phone number for Plusnet customers who want to move to BT's social tariff -

        Which? - All you need to know about broadband social tariffs 

.

[#9]

EE and Plusnet customers will need to contact the relevant call centre to get moved over.

Eligible EE customers should call 0800 079 5122

Eligible Plusnet customers should call 0800 432 0200

That number is just an out of date Plusnet customers services number, its now 0330-1239-123. It just means that anyone wanting to move to a BT social tariff needs to do it by calling Plusnet who will arrange the transfer to BT and ensure no ETCs are raised.

[#10]

Huge thanks everyone. 👍 I`ll note those details down. I can see the benefit (excuse the pun!) of choosing the BT social tariff rather than just looking for a BB/line `deal` elsewhere and paying a lot more when the social tariff is meant to provide a more affordable package. 

I don`t mind paying between £20-£25 ish for both on normal terms for around 40mbps speed as I don`t require faster speeds. But the annual increases play an inflammatory role here too so the social tariff would mean that wouldn`t play a part. 

I found this link below helpful too from Age UK with regards to the changes being made to lines and infrastructure.

Are landlines being phased out? Changes to landline telephones | Age UK

Would be good if we could just plug our existing home phone into the router and be supplied with what the above link says is a battery adapter? incase there`s a power cut. That would be mostly for my Mother as I have a Smartphone but if she needed to use the home phone at any time I wasn`t in the house as a safety net really.