BT Basic - T&C + Pricing info

Sunil Sood

BT have now published () details of their new BT
Basic tariff which I first mentioned in January, including the monthly line
rental and the inclusive call allowance

This tariff comes into effect on the 30 April 2007.

------
BT Basic is a social telephony scheme for customers who are in receipt of
certain state benefits and who meet the criteria set out in Eligibility A
customer has to make an application for the service which will be verified
by the Department for Work & Pensions. If an application is refused for any
reason a customer will not be able to re-apply for BT Basic for a minimum
period of six months.

BT Basic is only available to new BT customers.

Eligibility

Customers of BT Basic must be in receipt of at least one of the following
state benefits:

- Income Support; or
- Income Based Job Seekers Allowance; or
- Guaranteed Pension Credit.

BT will periodically verify with the Department for Work & Pensions a
customer's continuing receipt of these benefits and may withdraw BT Basic or
transfer the customer from BT Basic to BT Together Option 1 when they are
not eligible. If BT does this it will give the customer 30 days notice.

The following conditions exclude customers from being eligible for BT Basic
service:

- where the customer or anyone else in the customer's household has fixed
telephony service from another supplier (at the same or different premises)
either directly or indirectly; or

- where the customer or anyone else in the customer's household has a
contract mobile phone (one where bills are issued and payments are made in
arrears), or a mobile phone with high "pay as you go" usage where high usage
is defined as more than £10.00 per month on average (chronically sick and
disabled customers will be exempt from the mobile phone exclusions); or

- where households have more than one line at the same or different address
(for example a holiday home), except when, in addition to his/her own line,
the customer is paying for a line at the home of a family member
(chronically sick and disabled customers who have a 2nd line within the
property which is used / registered for their carer, will be exempt from the
additional line exclusion); or

- the line is with Incoming Calls Barred (i.e. Outgoing Calls Only); or

- the line is used exclusively in connection with a burglar alarm or other
monitoring device (this does not apply to ?lifeline? alarm monitoring
systems); or

- the line is provided on Temporary Service terms; or

- the line is a Shared Service Line; or

- the line is a BT Res. Official Line; or

- the line is with Residential BT Rented Cardphones; or

- the line is a Payphone line; or

- the line has ADSL, ISDN or is a business line; or

- the customers has any other optional tariff such as BT Together Options 1,
2 and 3, BT Working Together, BT Together Local Calls Option, BT Call Mobile
option and BT Together International Option; or

- the customer has BT's Friends & Family scheme; or - the customers has a
PBX; or

- the customer has BT Bill Direct; or

- the customer is also a BT SurfTime customer; or

- the line is for PSTN Split line voice service.

Pricing Information

The BT Basic rental for customers who pay by Direct Debit or using the BT
Monthly Payment Plan is £11.49 per quarter (including VAT).

For other customers the BT Basic rental is £14.49 per quarter (including
VAT). An early payment discount of £2.00 (Incl. VAT) is credited to the next
customer?s bill where the following conditions are met:

- the bill was paid within 8 calendar days (including the time for you
payment to reach us and be processed) of the date shown on top of the bill ;
and

- the customer is not paying by Direct Debit or the BT Monthly Payment Plan.

BT Basic is only available with quarterly billing and customers may opt to
have paper-free billing but will receive no discount.

Inclusive Call Allowance

BT Basic includes an inclusive call allowance of £4.50 (including VAT) per
quarter for calls to:

- UK Local and UK National numbers beginning 01 and 02; and

- the Channel Islands; and

- the Republic of Ireland from Northern Ireland; and

- numbers charged at the g21 rate (typically to broadband voice calls
beginning 055 and 056; and

- International numbers, excluding satellite calls.

The charges for these calls appear on your bill but you only have to pay for
the calls to these destinations that you have made in excess of the
£4.50inclusive call allowance. Any unused inclusive call allowance cannot be
carried forward to the next quarter.

Call charges

The following calls are charged at 10p/min (including VAT):

- UK Local and UK National calls beginning 01 and 02; and

- calls to Internet Service Providers on numbers beginning 01 and 02; and

- calls to the Channel Islands; and

- calls from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland; and

- calls charged at the g21 rate (typically to broadband voice calls
beginning 055 and 056.

All other call charges are the same as BT Together Option 1.

The BT Basic service does not have a minimum period. Your exchange line may
have a minimum period and charges may apply if you end your service early.
-------

Regards
Sunil

Roger Mills

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Sunil Sood <.uk> wrote:

>
> BT Basic is only available to new BT customers.
>
I'd rather assumed that it would replace LUS - but only for those who
qualify under the new rules. But it isn't even that - 'cos existing LUS
customers can't be *new* BT customers.

So is LUS continuing for existing customers - or are they having to move to
Together Option 1, even if they would have qualified for 'Basic' had they
been new customers?

Seems to me that not many people will qualify for Basic, considering the
large number of hoops which have to be jumped through.
--
Cheers,
Roger
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Brian McIlwrath

Roger Mills <> wrote:
: > BT Basic is only available to new BT customers.
: >
: I'd rather assumed that it would replace LUS - but only for those who
: qualify under the new rules. But it isn't even that - 'cos existing LUS
: customers can't be *new* BT customers.

: So is LUS continuing for existing customers - or are they having to move to
: Together Option 1, even if they would have qualified for 'Basic' had they
: been new customers?

I am sure that I saw something in this newsgroup some time ago that LUS
will not be withdrawn (for existing customers - I would expect it to vanish
for "new supply") *UNTIL* BT Basic reaches some OFCOM target number of
subscribers.

Graham

> Inclusive Call Allowance
>
> BT Basic includes an inclusive call allowance of £4.50 (including VAT) per
> quarter for calls to:

<SNIP>

> - International numbers, excluding satellite calls.

So international calls are inclusive if they are routed via submarine cable?
Perhaps BT should say what they mean.
--

Graham.
%Profound_observation%

Soruk

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 15:59:36 +0100, Sunil Sood <.uk> wrote:
>BT have now published () details of their new BT
>Basic tariff which I first mentioned in January, including the monthly line
>rental and the inclusive call allowance
>
>This tariff comes into effect on the 30 April 2007.

[snip]

>Call charges
>
>The following calls are charged at 10p/min (including VAT):
>
>- UK Local and UK National calls beginning 01 and 02; and
>
>- calls to Internet Service Providers on numbers beginning 01 and 02; and
>
>- calls to the Channel Islands; and
>
>- calls from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland; and
>
>- calls charged at the g21 rate (typically to broadband voice calls
>beginning 055 and 056.
>
>All other call charges are the same as BT Together Option 1.

0845 - or even 0870 callthroughs would then make the calls cheaper...

How long before BT bar 08xx calls on these lines?

--
-- Michael "Soruk" McConnell Eridani Star System
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Helen Deborah Vecht

(Soruk)typed

> 0845 - or even 0870 callthroughs would then make the calls cheaper...

> How long before BT bar 08xx calls on these lines?

Given that NHS Direct and several hospitals, as well as other healthcare
facilities are on 08** lines, I would hope that any such move met VERY
LOUD objections.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.