Hi,

I am an EX Virgin Installation Engineer perhaps i can help. Virgin has its own dedicated exchanges and telephone network, hence the need for a seperate phone socket from Virgin Media. If you are looking to leave Virgin media BT will have to arrange for an engineer to reconnect a BT line at the Exchange.

BT will also make sure the line is working up until your master socket and doesnt take responsibility for extension sockets. This you need to consider if your Virgin engineer moved your extensions into the Virgin media socket.

A good engineer should have left your BT Socket intact (BT's Property) and placed the new Virgin media socket next to it and simply moved the extensions over. This can be easily reversed with a bit of knowledge.

Hope this answers a few questions.

Steve

See if BT are still offering the free connection deal. This is a post that a guy from BT confirmed was correct but is not widely advertised or advised by the BT helplines. See if the offer is still running.

BT are offering free connection just now, , 18 month contract plus various other Ts & Cs.

Call 0800 800 150 and ask http://www.serviceview.bt.com/list/public/current/Notice09_boo/2-FrameworkImpl337855.htm for New Line Fee Connection Offer. If the first operator knows nothing about it hang up and try again.

Huckster

The reason for this is that most likely Virgin have cut the BT connection at the box, as their phone lines actually come off of the fibre optic cable routed into your home, rather than the network.

Having spoken to BT, I can confirm this. The current charge is £122.50 and this is for an engineer to switch something over at the exchange. Therefore, you'd need to pay this to switch from Virgin Media.

I have a line coming into my home that used to be BT but it is now Virgin Media. I'd need to pay this amount to switch to BT or (as far as I know) to any other provider.

There was a time i thought of moving from Virgin Broadband and when i rang BT they told me it doesn't matter if i already have a BT line in my house, its whether or not the line has been active in the last 3months. If its hasn't then the connection fee would still be £125...

I kinda got the impression that it's the engineer who tips up to do the job that decides what needs doing and what's chargeable or not. Make a nice cuppa and get the biscuits out...

If there's a wire coming into your house then you shouldn't need installation, just reconnecting...

I hope that is the case but speaking to some providers - they told me virgin is cable and so I'd need to get a BT line. I used to be a BT customer some years back and so I see no reason to have a new line installed but maybe the sales people at BT just want to grab more money? 

I'm fairly certain that the £125 is if they need to physically to put a line into your house. When I got my BB with Sky I didn't have a phone at all but did have a line in. The engineer from BT came along and just connected it up, tested the line and they allocated a number.

With you having a phone already I think you may not have to pay the big installation fee. You'll probably find that the existing line is BT's anyway.

Maybe someone with a bit more actual knowledge of telecoms could confirm or advise to the contrary...

JJ

Hi

 I want to switch from virgin media to another telephone/broadband provider but they all seem to require a BT line which costs £124.99 just to install and then I think you're tied in to a BT contract for 18 months - is the anyway I can get the line installed for cheaper and not go through BT?

 

Thanks