How can I get FTTC when I am only being offered FTTP?

[levezvosskinnyf]

Long story short - FTTP is available in my postcode but the landlord and building manager are getting in the way. Plus I live on the 5th floor in a 200-year-old building so it wouldn't be the easiest install. Engineer came round ages ago and said Openreach would contact the building manager to discuss installing FTTP for the whole building but that hasn't happened.

My old flatmate who did have our BT broadband account moved out and BT wouldn't let her move it into my name so I've been left trying to get this sorted out. I have ordered a full fibre package as that is all that is available but installation is realistically not going to happen in the short term. Somehow I still have Internet even though the account is long closed, there is an Openreach Master Socket 5C which the router is plugged into. I have spent hours and hours on the phone to BT and later EE after the merge, opening and closing accounts, it seems like not a single person I speak to seems to understand that there is literally a working FTTC connection in the flat because they keep telling me that a new connection would need to be installed and Openreach are now only offering FTTP. 

I am literally trying to set up an account and pay for the broadband that I have and it's genuinely the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. I'm now stuck in and endless loop of phone calls and rescheduling Openreach engineer appointments. If for any reason the mystery broadband I have stops working I'm totally stuffed.

What would be nice is if BT/EE just had an email address that I could send all this to and let them sort it out and come back to me rather than having to spend hours on the phone to sales staff who don't seem to understand what I'm trying to explain...

[XRaySpeX]

ISPs will now not offer new FTTC connections at locations where FTTP is available.

What does BT Wholesale Broadband Availability Checker estimate for your phone number? Post the whole table and the line above it, blanking out your phone number. If it doesn't recognise your phone number or you don't have one, use the Address Checker.

Who own this existing FTTC BT BB contract & who's paying for it?

You can't just transfer it to yourself. A matter of ownership is involved. The current owner of the contract wishing to be moved needs to call BT with both of you available on the line to effect a change of ownership. The other person will need to pass a credit check. They will then be paying for that contract. If you can't do it together CS will give the current owner a password for the other to quote when they call.

Why don't you just wait & see what happens to your FTTP order, using the existing FTTC connection in the meantime?

[Mustrum]

@levezvosskinnyf   alas no one on this site has account access so unable to see what services you could get. And there is no email access for customer questions or queries.

If you enter your details in the BTW DSL Checker you may well see this entry in the text below the table, and so will be able to order a SOGEA (FTTC without phone) service, but would need to find an advisor who understands the process.

"This site is in an FTTP priority area where FTTP is available but exceptionally SOGEA will also show as available to order but only at Non-Standard Premises (NSP) such as Hot site, Uninhabitable and Temporary locations. Migrations of WLR Solus (voice-only lines) is also allowed but only for SOGEA 0.5Mbps bandwidths. SOGEA 40/10 bandwidths order is also allowed."

[levezvosskinnyf]

It was my old flatmate - when she called BT up when she was moving out she was told it could easily be transferred to me. When I called up to do this I was told it couldn't. She now lives in Norway...

"Why don't you just wait & see what happens to your FTTP order, using the existing FTTC connection in the meantime?" - my only worry with this is if a fault develops with the connection or something I won't be able to get it fixed as neither BT nor EE are able to acknowledge that it exists!

[Peter_W]

Good afternoon @levezvosskinnyf, welcome to the Community!

I've had a check over this one, and with BT broadband accounts, a transfer of ownership wouldn't usually be possible in these sort of circumstances. 

We can do this in instances of bereavement and terminal illness, but for an account holder moving away this would be either a home move or cancellation so the new occupier can take on their own connection. 

I appreciate this is made more complex due to the change over to Full Fibre, but fingers crossed something you can get implemented soon.

Peter