Aral Balkan: Historical Archive — On new BT phone lines and Internet service

On new BT phone lines and Internet service

I just moved and had my phone line activated by BT today. Of course, my first reaction was to pull up the Be web site to order broadband service. Unfortunately, I got a message telling me that my new number was not in BT's database and that it could take up to 48hrs for it to appear there. Thankfully, I called up BT to ask them about this and, when I did, they finalized my activation and the number went into their database almost immediately (when I refreshed Be's page, it could find my number and I was able to place my order). So, the moral of the story is:

When you get your BT line activated, call them at the number they SMS you (0800 028 1317) and ask them to finalize your account so that your number can propagate into their database and you can order broadband service.

Comments

Hey Andre, I went with Be but apparently I could have gotten the same service (?) for less since I'm with O2 for my iPhone. Live and learn, I guess. OTOH, I'm very happy with the Be service so far. Much faster than my previous provider (which was, ironically, fast.co.uk). I'm currently consistently getting 10Mbit/s downloads (both within UK and tried it with NY, etc.) and 1Mbit/sec uploads. The service is advertised as "up to" 24Mbit/sec down and 2.5Mbit/sec up.
by Aral on 2009-05-21 11:03:51
If you didn't know, Tony Benn was a Minister for Technology and in 1976 had ordered that the Post Office telephone service should be replaced with 100Mb fibre optics. It was scheduled to go ahead in 1979 - 30 years ago. The current system used in Germany was what happened to the research done in Britain. Japan is finalising Gigabit domestic broadband - and that's a scary upgrade. Speed is relative. Tim
by Tim on 2009-05-15 06:27:36
Hey Aral, Now that you have the BT landline, are you sticking with their internet service? I was thinking of getting the 16mb O2 broadband. Seems like a good deal, but I might be wrong. It's crazy how the ISPs here in the UK are so far behind from other countries :/
by Andre on 2009-05-13 09:51:32