Transfer of broadband and telephone to housemate

Good morning!

Currently the telephone line (BT) and the ADSL broadband access
(Eclipse) in the house I share with others are in my name. As I am going
to move out the services are going to be transferred to one of my
housemates.

Now I am wondering how I can minimise the broadband downtime. BT tells
me they cease the line when the ownership changes, resulting in a short
downtime of maybe a couple of minutes. Eclipse tell me that when the
line gets ceased they have to place a new order, and that takes five
working days to go through.

However, if I could convince BT not to cease the line Eclipse could do
just a transfer of ownership, and there would be no downtime at all. The
Indian BT helpdesk guy told me though that it is impossible not to cease
the line.

So, do you have any advice whether it is possible to get around a one
week downtime for broadband that doesn't include changing to cable?

Regards,
Gunde

Gundemarie Scholz wrote:
> Good morning!
>
> Currently the telephone line (BT) and the ADSL broadband access
> (Eclipse) in the house I share with others are in my name. As I am going
> to move out the services are going to be transferred to one of my
> housemates.
>
> Now I am wondering how I can minimise the broadband downtime. BT tells
> me they cease the line when the ownership changes, resulting in a short
> downtime of maybe a couple of minutes.

Pfff. Couple of minutes? For the voice side of things maybe (although I
don't see why). When ownership changes, retails systems will generate a
/PSTN Cease/ on the line to remove any provisioned ADSL service. It's
likely that will take 7-10 days to clear so you'd probably have
connectivity after the change but only for a week or so.

> Eclipse tell me that when the
> line gets ceased they have to place a new order, and that takes five
> working days to go through.

That is true. I'm not sure on Eclipse's policies but this costs the ISP
£40 too, so I'd check with them that there aren't any additional charges
to get you reconnected.

> However, if I could convince BT not to cease the line Eclipse could do
> just a transfer of ownership, and there would be no downtime at all. The
> Indian BT helpdesk guy told me though that it is impossible not to cease
> the line.

It's not impossible. ISP's can arrange with BT to have the cease
cancelled however BT would only agree to this if it was placed in error
(and in this case it wouldn't have been)

> So, do you have any advice whether it is possible to get around a one
> week downtime for broadband that doesn't include changing to cable?

Keep the BT account in your name and just change the payment details?
(Although for obvious reasons I certainly wouldn't recommend that)

Kind Rgds,

--
|Bob Pullen Broadband Solutions for
|Support Home & Business @
|PlusNet plc. www.plus.net
+------ PlusNet - The smarter way to Internet! -----

PlusNet Support Team wrote:
> Gundemarie Scholz wrote:
>> Currently the telephone line (BT) and the ADSL broadband access
>> (Eclipse) in the house I share with others are in my name. As I am going
>> to move out the services are going to be transferred to one of my
>> housemates.
>>
>> Now I am wondering how I can minimise the broadband downtime. BT tells
>> me they cease the line when the ownership changes, resulting in a short
>> downtime of maybe a couple of minutes.
>
> Pfff. Couple of minutes? For the voice side of things maybe

Yes, that is what I meant.

> When ownership changes, retails systems will generate a
> /PSTN Cease/ on the line to remove any provisioned ADSL service. It's
> likely that will take 7-10 days to clear so you'd probably have
> connectivity after the change but only for a week or so.

Customer Services told me once the line is ceased they wouldn't bring
ADSL back up again as the line is not in my name any more.

>> Eclipse tell me that when the
>> line gets ceased they have to place a new order, and that takes five
>> working days to go through.
>
> That is true. I'm not sure on Eclipse's policies but this costs the ISP
> £40 too, so I'd check with them that there aren't any additional charges
> to get you reconnected.

They told me that when the ownership of the phone line changes ADSL
would be cancelled as well automatically as the line won't be in my name
any more.

>> However, if I could convince BT not to cease the line Eclipse could do
>> just a transfer of ownership, and there would be no downtime at all. The
>> Indian BT helpdesk guy told me though that it is impossible not to cease
>> the line.
>
> It's not impossible. ISP's can arrange with BT to have the cease
> cancelled however BT would only agree to this if it was placed in error
> (and in this case it wouldn't have been)

Ok, so this doesn't apply here.

>> So, do you have any advice whether it is possible to get around a one
>> week downtime for broadband that doesn't include changing to cable?
>
> Keep the BT account in your name and just change the payment details?
> (Although for obvious reasons I certainly wouldn't recommend that)

This is not an option as I want to have a clean cut concerning any bills
that might come.

Regards,
Gunde

"Gundemarie Scholz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> PlusNet Support Team wrote:
>> Gundemarie Scholz wrote:
>>> Currently the telephone line (BT) and the ADSL broadband access
>>> (Eclipse) in the house I share with others are in my name. As I am going
>>> to move out the services are going to be transferred to one of my
>>> housemates.
>>>
>>> Now I am wondering how I can minimise the broadband downtime. BT tells
>>> me they cease the line when the ownership changes, resulting in a short
>>> downtime of maybe a couple of minutes.
>>
>> Pfff. Couple of minutes? For the voice side of things maybe
>
> Yes, that is what I meant.
>
>> When ownership changes, retails systems will generate a
>> /PSTN Cease/ on the line to remove any provisioned ADSL service. It's
>> likely that will take 7-10 days to clear so you'd probably have
>> connectivity after the change but only for a week or so.
>
> Customer Services told me once the line is ceased they wouldn't bring
> ADSL back up again as the line is not in my name any more.
>
>>> Eclipse tell me that when the
>>> line gets ceased they have to place a new order, and that takes five
>>> working days to go through.
>>
>> That is true. I'm not sure on Eclipse's policies but this costs the ISP
>> £40 too, so I'd check with them that there aren't any additional charges
>> to get you reconnected.
>
> They told me that when the ownership of the phone line changes ADSL
> would be cancelled as well automatically as the line won't be in my name
> any more.
>
>>> However, if I could convince BT not to cease the line Eclipse could do
>>> just a transfer of ownership, and there would be no downtime at all. The
>>> Indian BT helpdesk guy told me though that it is impossible not to cease
>>> the line.
>>
>> It's not impossible. ISP's can arrange with BT to have the cease
>> cancelled however BT would only agree to this if it was placed in error
>> (and in this case it wouldn't have been)
>
> Ok, so this doesn't apply here.
>
>>> So, do you have any advice whether it is possible to get around a one
>>> week downtime for broadband that doesn't include changing to cable?
>>
>> Keep the BT account in your name and just change the payment details?
>> (Although for obvious reasons I certainly wouldn't recommend that)
>
> This is not an option as I want to have a clean cut concerning any bills
> that might come.
>
> Regards,
> Gunde

Get the new bill-payer to order a completely new phone line well ahead of
time, and apply for the ADSL service on that line. Once the service is
working, cancel your ADSL and BT line. That way your responsibility ceases
correctly, and somebody else has to take proper responsibility for the new
services. And of course there's no break in service.

There is clearly a market for a "one-stop" transfer of all phone and
internet services: perhaps one of the bundled suppliers could improve their
reputation in the marketplace by offering such a service.

--
Graham J

On Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:37:40 +0100, PlusNet Support Team
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:


>
>Pfff. Couple of minutes? For the voice side of things maybe (although I
>don't see why). When ownership changes, retails systems will generate a
>/PSTN Cease/ on the line to remove any provisioned ADSL service. It's
>likely that will take 7-10 days to clear so you'd probably have
>connectivity after the change but only for a week or so.

If you are moving out and someone else is taking the line over they
will issue a "stop" and not a "cease" which means the line can then be
taken over by the new incumbent by ordering a "start" and not a
"provide" .............. I thought Plusnet was now owned by BT so you
should have known that

jim

Gundemarie Scholz wrote:
> Good morning!
>
> Currently the telephone line (BT) and the ADSL broadband access
> (Eclipse) in the house I share with others are in my name. As I am going
> to move out the services are going to be transferred to one of my
> housemates.
>

I wanted to do a similar thing at the end of last year - I had a
Madasafish broadband account, in my name, on a BT line that was not in
my name.

BT told me that to change the account name they would momentarily put a
'stop' on the line, followed (almost) immediatly with a 'start' order.
They said this process would automatically generate a cease order on the
broadband account.

I simply contacted MAAF technical support and gave them the BT 'stop'
order number. They looked out for the cease order and cancelled it.
The result was a seemless BT account name change and no loss of service.

I know your situation is slightly different, but if you get to talk to
the right people in technical support, things can turn out alright!

Gundemarie Scholz wrote :
> Good morning!
>
> Currently the telephone line (BT) and the ADSL broadband access
> (Eclipse) in the house I share with others are in my name. As I am going
> to move out the services are going to be transferred to one of my
> housemates.

Get him to take out voice service in his own name with a supplier other
than BT Retail. You need do nothing, other than making sure it happens.
Do not ask BT to stop your account as this will occur naturally upon
the transfer.

You could even ring another supplier "as if you were your housemate" so
that you know the order has been placed.

It is not necessary that the BT account be in the same name as the new
applicant.

The transfer will close /your/ BT account without any cease order being
sent to Eclipse.

>
> Now I am wondering how I can minimise the broadband downtime.

Simple, get a MAC from Eclipse and let your housemate migrate the
connection to an ISP of his choice, or as you suggest below, just get
Eclipse to do a change of responsibility.


> BT tells
> me they cease the line when the ownership changes, resulting in a short
> downtime of maybe a couple of minutes. Eclipse tell me that when the
> line gets ceased they have to place a new order, and that takes five
> working days to go through.
>
> However, if I could convince BT not to cease the line Eclipse could do
> just a transfer of ownership, and there would be no downtime at all. The
> Indian BT helpdesk guy told me though that it is impossible not to cease
> the line.
>
> So, do you have any advice whether it is possible to get around a one
> week downtime for broadband that doesn't include changing to cable?
>
> Regards,
> Gunde

jim wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:37:40 +0100, PlusNet Support Team
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>
>> Pfff. Couple of minutes? For the voice side of things maybe (although I
>> don't see why). When ownership changes, retails systems will generate a
>> /PSTN Cease/ on the line to remove any provisioned ADSL service. It's
>> likely that will take 7-10 days to clear so you'd probably have
>> connectivity after the change but only for a week or so.
>
> If you are moving out and someone else is taking the line over they
> will issue a "stop" and not a "cease" which means the line can then be
> taken over by the new incumbent by ordering a "start" and not a
> "provide" .............. I thought Plusnet was now owned by BT so you
> should have known that

Jim,

You misunderstand me.

I was talking about the ADSL service and not the PSTN side of things.
The ADSL cease that is placed when retail do their thing is confusingly
referred to as a /PSTN cease/ - At least that is still what it's
labelled in BT Wholesale's ordering systems and the only way to get
around that is to cancel the cease or place a new ADSL provide order
once the cease has cleared.

Rgds,

--
|Bob Pullen Broadband Solutions for
|Support Home & Business @
|PlusNet plc. www.plus.net
+------ PlusNet - The smarter way to Internet! ------

PlusNet Support Team wrote:
> Gundemarie Scholz wrote:

>> However, if I could convince BT not to cease the line Eclipse could do
>> just a transfer of ownership, and there would be no downtime at all. The
>> Indian BT helpdesk guy told me though that it is impossible not to cease
>> the line.
>
> It's not impossible. ISP's can arrange with BT to have the cease
> cancelled however BT would only agree to this if it was placed in error
> (and in this case it wouldn't have been)

Not true. The SP can have BT cancel the ADSL cease even if it was
technically correctly placed, if there are mitigating circumstances (as
above) - just needs everyone to know what is going on and for everyone
to communicate with each other.