BT

[portslade seagull]

No LLU service providers use their own equipment in the exchange

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

Yes just a small bit,but they all use the BT Network because they are to tight to outlay on their own to the apart from Virgin in most cases but they are now starting to utilise our network as well as BT are the only provider laying any fibre cables. So 90% of engineer visits will be by BT Engineers no matter who you are with so you still have the same cable even if you move to another provider.

 

[Ali_rrr]

Just switched to BT from Virgin. We were with TalkTalk which were absolutely shocking. Virgin wasn't really that much better to be honest. BT has literally been fantastic, we sometimes have 8 people at once in the house and everyone is using it fine without problems at the moment, whilst before, even if I was home alone, there'd be problems. I think we are with them due to infinity, as virgin couldn't do fibre optic in our area or something along those lines...

 

[Willy Dangle]

BT Openreach, cover the "last mile" from the exchange right up to your phone socket.

Openreach cover everything including half of the exchange. BT are a service provider just like Sky etc. The exchange is an MDF (main distribution frame) right through the network and up to the main socket.

 

[brakespear]

virgin all the way

but what about your service provider

(agree though, never had much in the way of trouble with Virgin )

 

[happypig]

Other providers are cheaper than bt because BT has to sell stuff to them cheaper than it does to it's customers, meaning they can re-sell and undercut BT whilst still making a profit.
A good analogy would be Tesco sell bread to the public at £1 a loaf.
The government rules mean that they have to sell bread to Asda at a 10% discount; they also have to allow Asda to have a stall in thier shops selling bread.
Asda then open a stall in every Tesco selling bread made by Tesco for 95p.
Lots of people buy bread for 5p cheaper and Asda makes 5p profit per loaf for doing very little.
People then say "Tesco bread is shit because it's 5p dearer and just the same"

 

[SwedishSonna]

OP do you have twitter? Folks at @BTCare are quite helpful.

 

[Gangsta]

Funny this has come up, just had a chat with dear old mum. She has line and calls with BT and has a problem with intermittent noises on her landline. She says it sounds like someone speaking in a foreign language. Now I may be wrong as no expert but surely that is a crossed line and can only be the line.

When calling BT they asked her to first check her phone as if she wanted a call out and the engineer found it was not the line, they would charge her £200. How can the fault be her phone, am I missing something or isn't this just BT saving themselves millions of pounds by scaring old people that it may be their fault and they may be severely penalised if so, thus people declining their call out engineer...?..

 

[SwedishSonna]

The charge applies to all customers regardless of problems faced. This is because a lot of problems can be fixed by the customer on first contact.

Gangsta see if your mother is able to try a different handset. If the problem still persists, plug the phone into the test socket to rule out internal wiring. This covers your back and means all the necessary steps have been followed.

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

I posted this on the BT forum in 2011 to highlight my frustrations...

After being bombarded by flyers and calls in 2010 I succumbed and agreed to upgrade to BT Infinity, as soon as it was installed (Hub 2.0) every few hours it dropped out. So after several calls to the Tech service guys I had my channel changed etc...and still it didn't work so I just gave up calling and saying the same thing over and over. Fed up of the Merry-go-round of starting the next call at 'have you switched it on and off?' I call for months and months and get the same crap help.

Two weeks ago my landline stopped working. An engineer comes out today, looks at the setup (the previous Infinity engineer did) and says 'oh this is obsolete, you need a new hub and a new phone. Call the Tech desk they'll help'. So I call India (again) and start the BT Merry-go-round once more...

Initial call 1028hrs - 'A BT Eng says I need a new hub as mine is old and explains all the problems I have been having'

Call centre worker 1: Let me take all the details and talk me through the problem...I can't help let me transfer you
Call Centre worker 2: Let me take all the details and talk me through the problem...You need to renew your contract as I can't send you a new hub out.
Me: Stop. Put me through to Customer retention
Customer Services: No problems, new contract (cheaper than the last one), new direct number to call Tech Services and they'll send a new hub out to you.
Me: Ummm sounds good
Call centre worker 3: Let me take all the details and talk me through the problem..I can't help let me transfer you
Call Centre worker 4: Let me take all the details and talk me through the problem...An engineer is coming out toyou to install BT Infinity, a hub will be installed then.
Me: I already have BT Infinity. I just want a new hub that works
Call centre worker 4: Oh...but your account says something different
Me: Well its wrong. (I now spend 30mins on hold, going through the same thing over and over again etc...).
Call centre worker 4: Er...one will be out tomorrow.

This just highlights the immense frustration i have had with BT. at times it is shocking.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I posted this on the BT forum in 2011 to highlight my frustrations...

After being bombarded by flyers and calls in 2010 I succumbed and agreed to upgrade to BT Infinity, as soon as it was installed (Hub 2.0) every few hours it dropped out. So after several calls to the Tech service guys I had my channel changed etc...and still it didn't work so I just gave up calling and saying the same thing over and over. Fed up of the Merry-go-round of starting the next call at 'have you switched it on and off?' I call for months and months and get the same crap help.

Two weeks ago my landline stopped working. An engineer comes out today, looks at the setup (the previous Infinity engineer did) and says 'oh this is obsolete, you need a new hub and a new phone. Call the Tech desk they'll help'. So I call India (again) and start the BT Merry-go-round once more...

Initial call 1028hrs - 'A BT Eng says I need a new hub as mine is old and explains all the problems I have been having'

Call centre worker 1: Let me take all the details and talk me through the problem...I can't help let me transfer you
Call Centre worker 2: Let me take all the details and talk me through the problem...You need to renew your contract as I can't send you a new hub out.
Me: Stop. Put me through to Customer retention
Customer Services: No problems, new contract (cheaper than the last one), new direct number to call Tech Services and they'll send a new hub out to you.
Me: Ummm sounds good
Call centre worker 3: Let me take all the details and talk me through the problem..I can't help let me transfer you
Call Centre worker 4: Let me take all the details and talk me through the problem...An engineer is coming out toyou to install BT Infinity, a hub will be installed then.
Me: I already have BT Infinity. I just want a new hub that works
Call centre worker 4: Oh...but your account says something different
Me: Well its wrong. (I now spend 30mins on hold, going through the same thing over and over again etc...).
Call centre worker 4: Er...one will be out tomorrow.

This just highlights the immense frustration i have had with BT. at times it is shocking.

When I had a similar experience about my phone line I ended up shouting at them to pass me to a British call centre - after a few minutes they got the message and transferred me. The problem was solved within 15 minutes once my call reached these shores !

 

[mune ni kamome]

Other providers are cheaper than bt because BT has to sell stuff to them cheaper than it does to it's customers, meaning they can re-sell and undercut BT whilst still making a profit.
A good analogy would be Tesco sell bread to the public at £1 a loaf.
The government rules mean that they have to sell bread to Asda at a 10% discount; they also have to allow Asda to have a stall in thier shops selling bread.
Asda then open a stall in every Tesco selling bread made by Tesco for 95p.
Lots of people buy bread for 5p cheaper and Asda makes 5p profit per loaf for doing very little.
People then say "Tesco bread is shit because it's 5p dearer and just the same"

Good analogy. I worked in the exchanges for many years and had to provide service for Other licensed Operators.

 

[BobbySmith]

Please do not get BT Vision, it is so bad, not a patch on Sky, they phoned me this week to ask me if my Iplayer was working ? I said while you were on the phone I let rip, about the tv freezing, recording not working, it re boots itself etc etc, she said she would put me through to someone, 15 mins later nothing and then line went dead, great service.

 

[Nibble]

BT currently own the "the last mile" meaning all cabled services pay them to use their cabling. BT had the cable industry sewn up for about 20 years. Wireless is fast becoming king and next year when most services will go wireless BT will be on their arse as their revenue will be slashed by about 70 %. They will be a piece of irrelevant history within 18 months. Remind them of this whenever they get shitty with you .

 

[beorhthelm]

When calling BT they asked her to first check her phone as if she wanted a call out and the engineer found it was not the line, they would charge her £200. How can the fault be her phone, am I missing something or isn't this just BT saving themselves millions of pounds by scaring old people that it may be their fault and they may be severely penalised if so, thus people declining their call out engineer...?..

to be fair, that is exactly what its for, to rule out user equipment (phones, routers, filters etc) that might be causing the problem. its as much as that, £60 or £80, its default responce not matter what the problem, because it does save them millions from fanthom problems. people will add crap eqipment or too much then complian about the line. or someone just wanting a chat, Dad say in the 80s couple callouts a week would be for that.

...Wireless is fast becoming king and next year when most services will go wireless BT will be on their arse as their revenue will be slashed by about 70 %. They will be a piece of irrelevant history within 18 months. Remind them of this whenever they get shitty with you .

really? which mobile network is going to be offering unlimited downloads for £20 a month then? whose going to provide infrastructure for non-mobile wifi? people said the above about the voice business since the 90's yet BT hasnt gone anywhere.

 

[Nibble]

to be fair, that is exactly what its for, to rule out user equipment (phones, routers, filters etc) that might be causing the problem. its as much as that, £60 or £80, its default responce not matter what the problem, because it does save them millions from fanthom problems. people will add crap eqipment or too much then complian about the line. or someone just wanting a chat, Dad say in the 80s couple callouts a week would be for that.



really? which mobile network is going to be offering unlimited downloads for £20 a month then? whose going to provide infrastructure for non-mobile wifi? people said the above about the voice business since the 90's yet BT hasnt gone anywhere.

I have a family member whose job it is to bring new technology to market. The downfall of BT is a big deal in the industry, everyone knows it's imminent. I trust him as he's family. You don't know him so why would you listen to his opinion. All will unfold in the fullness of time as these things tend to do.

 

[beorhthelm]

I have a family member whose job it is to bring new technology to market. The downfall of BT is a big deal in the industry, everyone knows it's imminent. I trust him as he's family. You don't know him so why would you listen to his opinion. All will unfold in the fullness of time as these things tend to do.

well the share price had increased 40% from its low of the last year, so i dont think the industry is really expecting any imminent downfall.

 

[SwedishSonna]

Dunno who in the industry reckons BTs downfall is imminent? Just pumped millions into BT Sport and continues to roll out fibre. Share price on a steady incline. Things haven't looked better recently. You won't find anyone rolling out cheap wireless Internet. Even if you did, monthly usage probably capped at a low data rate.

 

[happypig]

BT currently own the "the last mile" meaning all cabled services pay them to use their cabling. BT had the cable industry sewn up for about 20 years. Wireless is fast becoming king and next year when most services will go wireless BT will be on their arse as their revenue will be slashed by about 70 %. They will be a piece of irrelevant history within 18 months. Remind them of this whenever they get shitty with you .

Utter nonsense.
For one thing, how do you think all the cell sites connect to the MTXs (mobile telephone exchanges) ? Osmosis ?
Wireless is a short range technology and unsuitable for Wide Area Networking. Whilst point to point radio (18/38g) is still widely used, it's susceptibility to outside influences make it the last choice for provision of service; that inherent unreliability has kept me in beer and crisps for the last 15 years.
I'd suggested that whoever told you this was, with the greatest respect, talking out of their arse.

 

[Nibble]

Utter nonsense.
For one thing, how do you think all the cell sites connect to the MTXs (mobile telephone exchanges) ? Osmosis ?
Wireless is a short range technology and unsuitable for Wide Area Networking. Whilst point to point radio (18/38g) is still widely used, it's susceptibility to outside influences make it the last choice for provision of service; that inherent unreliability has kept me in beer and crisps for the last 15 years.
I'd suggested that whoever told you this was, with the greatest respect, talking out of their arse.

With respect, it's new technology so would be different, wouldn't it. I'm not asking you to believe it or even entertain the thought of it. I am telling you what I was told and I happen to believe it as the person who told me it also brought to market stuff like the Cloud and many other new technology. In fact just the other day he was showing me protytypes of organic display screens, rizla thin they were and cheap as chips. Youc an hand them out as flyers for advertising, amongst many other applications, watch them and throw them away. I respect the bloke as he is a field leader in what he does. As I said believe it or don't believe it, it changes not a thing.

 

[mune ni kamome]

Did you know that BT invented the Hyperlink (the ability to use an area of the screen as a touchable switch) back in the early 70's at their Martlesham laboratories for their new Prestel service. Unfortunately it didn't take off and was shelved until Microsoft used it about 20 years later to become the biggest company in the world. BT tried to reclaim their patent in the American courts but were rebuffed as too much time had passed. If they had won they would have become the worlds biggest company themselves.