No longer possible to have phone and DSL with different providers?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › No longer possible to have phone and DSL with different providers?

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rb99

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#1158394 20-Oct-2014 12:39

quentinreade:
kiwifidget:
quentinreade:
kiwifidget:
quentinreade:
kiwifidget: Is this just a Slingshot thing or will all ISP's be affected? I ask because we have Telecom for landline and ICONZ for internet. I've not heard anything from ICONZ about this.

It's an industry-wide change. We are just more on the ball than the others ;)

To the best of my knowledge, ICONZ dont offer a landline service, so will I be forced to change to Telecom or some other dual provider for ADSL?

I won't speak on ICONZ behalf, but ISPs that offer broadband only plans will be charged more for broadband from Dec 1, and will have to price up their plans or make a loss.

The Slingshot email from earlier in the thread says "Essentially, from December 1, you won’t be able to have your homeline with one provider, and your broadband with another."
YOU WONT BE ABLE TO. Is this part true? Or you will be able to, but you may have to pay a bit more?

As per before:

In essence the POTS charges will now be moved and lumped in with the broadband rental charges.
So if you have a broadband only service, your supplier will probably be paying more for the rental than you are getting charged.
The email probably oversimplifies the issue in an attempt to explain it.
The options for an ISP which provides a customer with a broadband only services are:
- try and get the customer onto a bundled product (this is what we are doing - and as you all know, bundles are (almost always) the cheapest way to go these days)
- charge customers more for broadband only (not ideal for anyone)
- make a loss on the product (CFO not so keen on this)

So I expect any broadband only services (if you have a homeline elsewhere) to increase substantially - maybe even double.

I guess if you go for naked broadband and VoIP there aren't any POTS charges to move so you don't have to worry ?

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

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rb99

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#1158429 20-Oct-2014 12:52

oops sorry, asked and answered already.....

“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” -John Kenneth Galbraith

rb99

Flickky

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#1158445 20-Oct-2014 13:14

DarkShadow:
johntynz:
DarkShadow:
smarsden:

We currently have homeline with Spark, with two Spark mobiles attached on their open term OneBill plan, at only $19 per month per mobile.

...

but then might also have to change to a different mobile plan with Spark. This will probably cost more since I think the price-point we're getting on mobile currently with Spark is only because our homeline is with them also.

You can just get the OneBill $19. You don't need to bundle it with anything else. (Although if you want to spend $19 a month with Spark, the prepay plan will give you better value.)

$19 plan is identical prepaid and postpaid

No free WiFi for postpaid.

You get the 1gb free wifi on all postpaid plans (open term/fixed contract) afaik.

coffeebaron

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#1158468 20-Oct-2014 13:43

So if the line charge is moving from POTS to xDSL, one would assume there would be a drop in charge for a POTS line rental where you have clothed xDSL with another provider?

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mgc54

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#1159361 21-Oct-2014 17:05

We have our landline with Spark and our ADSL Internet with Xnet, have done so since 2006 and really like the service from xnet.

I am loathed to change to spark for ADSL as brother in law has Spark ADSL in our town and gets consistantly slow broadband connection speeds than we do with xnet.

Further more we have a medical alarm on our telephone line that might not be compatible with VoIP?

I am quite happy to pay a little more to retain the current configuration.

I guess this is not possible?

Not a word from xnet regarding these changes?

hio77

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#1159412 21-Oct-2014 18:03

mgc54: We have our landline with Spark and our ADSL Internet with Xnet, have done so since 2006 and really like the service from xnet.

I am loathed to change to spark for ADSL as brother in law has Spark ADSL in our town and gets consistantly slow broadband connection speeds than we do with xnet.

Further more we have a medical alarm on our telephone line that might not be compatible with VoIP?

I am quite happy to pay a little more to retain the current configuration.

I guess this is not possible?

Not a word from xnet regarding these changes?

Ild say the speed issues your brother in law has on Spark relate to his xdsl situation rather than the provider themselves.

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coffeebaron

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#1159446 21-Oct-2014 18:30

mgc54: We have our landline with Spark and our ADSL Internet with Xnet, have done so since 2006 and really like the service from xnet.

I am loathed to change to spark for ADSL as brother in law has Spark ADSL in our town and gets consistantly slow broadband connection speeds than we do with xnet.

Further more we have a medical alarm on our telephone line that might not be compatible with VoIP?

I am quite happy to pay a little more to retain the current configuration.

I guess this is not possible?

Not a word from xnet regarding these changes?

There are a few more medical alarm options out there now that include IP alternatives, so worth checking with your medical alarm provider to see if they can monitor over broadband.

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Lazarui

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#1159481 21-Oct-2014 19:02

To Be honest,

I don't think I've seen a competitive separated Phone and Broadband plan regardless anyway.

Most Phone line onlys start at around $45.00 (And thats extremely low end from memory its minimum $51 now) and Broadband on top is ususally at least the $30.00 mark entry level (If not more)

Leaving the price point at least at $75.00 considering most entry level "Bundled" deals are that $60-$70 mark its probably a good thing to force some of these people off out dated plans.

luckysurprise

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#1162711 27-Oct-2014 07:29

I have a landline with Spark paid for by Work and Income for medical reasons. Personally I would be glad to be without the bothersome device, but medical services sometimes need to contact me at short notice (and I them) and they still haven't caught up with the email age. My el-cheapo cellphone's battery is often flat as I rarely use it so can't be relied on. (I don't like phones, but that's another story...)

Being on a very slim budget I have my Broadband with Fyx as the cheapest provider I could find for my highly variable monthly data use.

Work and Income require me every year to provide proof of what I pay each month for the landline which they reimburse me for. I just print off my latest monthly ebill from Spark to give them.

With bundled plans this is not possible (or is it?) so I feel unable to move to a bundled plan.

Am I going to be seeing Fyx increasing their charges drastically as a result of the impending change?

sbiddle

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#1162731 27-Oct-2014 07:54

luckysurprise: I have a landline with Spark paid for by Work and Income for medical reasons. Personally I would be glad to be without the bothersome device, but medical services sometimes need to contact me at short notice (and I them) and they still haven't caught up with the email age. My el-cheapo cellphone's battery is often flat as I rarely use it so can't be relied on. (I don't like phones, but that's another story...)

Being on a very slim budget I have my Broadband with Fyx as the cheapest provider I could find for my highly variable monthly data use.

Work and Income require me every year to provide proof of what I pay each month for the landline which they reimburse me for. I just print off my latest monthly ebill from Spark to give them.

With bundled plans this is not possible (or is it?) so I feel unable to move to a bundled plan.

Am I going to be seeing Fyx increasing their charges drastically as a result of the impending change?

If Fyx don't increase their pricing they'll be losing money if they just sell broadband as a standlone product and not bundled with a POTS service that they're providing.

I have written more about this here

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/sbiddle/8734

jay21

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#1165126 30-Oct-2014 16:00

First of all there is nothing stopping you having your ADSL and pots with different providers from the 1st of December. Chorus will be crediting your pots provider part of the pots charge and increasing the DSL's provider part of the charge. Basically making it the same. Now if some ISP's dont want to pass this credit on or force you to combine you might want to look at changing ISP's

Here is Sparks informer to their customers:

167 Victoria Street West sparkwholesale.co.nz sparkwholesale.co.nz
Auckland, New Zealand
30 October 2014
Summary
From 1 December 2014, when UBA is taken in a bundle with voice services, the wholesale copper
charges will be transferred from the voice service to the UBA service as the new primary service, in line
with the requirements of the Telecommunications Act.
Because Spark will no longer pay Chorus for the copper charge on bundled wholesale POTS lines, we
will pass on this cost saving to Wholesale customers purchasing POTS, via a corresponding credit of
$23.52. This credit will be applied by Chorus as Spark’s agent when Chorus bills for Spark Wholesale
services as further explained below.
Spark and Chorus will be in regular contact with you as the short-term credits are implemented, and as
we develop a more automated longer-term solution.
What’s happening?
 The Telecommunications Act requires that from 1 December 2014 UBA is to become the primary
service on copper lines. Where UBA is purchased in a bundle with spark wholesale POTS, the
layer one copper charges will be reflected in the total UBA price you pay Chorus
 The net effect of the higher UBA price and the POTS credit should mean that where you purchase
Chorus UBA and Spark Wholesale POTS services on the same line, you will pay the same net
amount as you do today.
 This means that when RSPs purchase UBA in a bundle with POTS, Spark Wholesale will credit
back $23.52 (the current layer one copper price), onto the POTS account, even though the UBA
service could be with another Service Provider.
 There is no change to POTS-only lines without UBA; the standard price book prices will continue
to apply
 POTS Installation charges may also change – we are still working through these details and will
give you notice of any changes in a separate Informer to you.
Manual credits (effective 1 December 2014)
Spark and Chorus will continue to work together to update you with further operational detail as soon
as reasonably possible.

kiwifidget

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#1165131 30-Oct-2014 16:08

jay21: First of all there is nothing stopping you having your ADSL and pots with different providers from the 1st of December. Chorus will be crediting your pots provider part of the pots charge and increasing the DSL's provider part of the charge. Basically making it the same. Now if some ISP's dont want to pass this credit on or force you to combine you might want to look at changing ISP's

So Slingshot have been scaremongering then?

Delete cookies?! Are you insane?!

quentinreade

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#1165156 30-Oct-2014 16:18

Not scaremongering at all. Just trying to make sure people are aware of the changes.
From Dec 1, the rental costs we pay for BB only customers increase substantially, and will need to be passed onto customers.
While yes, you CAN keep your broadband and homeline services separate (and while the initial email could have been clearer about this, our staff are being really clear when people call), you'll likely end up paying far over the odds.
If customers don't bundle before then (with us or anyone else) they will end up paying an increased broadband rental - and their existing homeline rental (I have yet to see any promises these will drop from homeline suppliers).
We have been calling all our broadband only customers up and spelling out the options.
- bundle with us
- bundle with someone else
- not do anything, but end up paying more for broadband
Cheers

Comms chap

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Nil Einne

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#1169521 5-Nov-2014 19:59

jay21: First of all there is nothing stopping you having your ADSL and pots with different providers from the 1st of December. Chorus will be crediting your pots provider part of the pots charge and increasing the DSL's provider part of the charge. Basically making it the same. Now if some ISP's dont want to pass this credit on or force you to combine you might want to look at changing ISP's.

Don't you mean change POTS/home line providers? As I understand it, and supported by your own post, the credit goes to the POTS/homeline provider not your ISP. They are the ones responsible for passing on this credit, so instead of charging you $45 or whatever they charge, they should be charging less if you have UBS and with someone else. Your ISP (be it Slingshot or anyone else) isn't responsible if your POTS provider falls to pass on the credit and they can't really do anything about it. The only thing where you may need to change ISP would be if your ISP fails to allow you to have an unbundled DSL even with a price rise, but it sounds like despite the confusing email, Slingshot will. I'm guessing most ISPs will. Of course I haven't yet heard of any homeline providers passing on the discount, Spark may be most significant here since I'm pretty sure most people probably have their homeline with them. So you may need to bundle and since as others have said, you generally do get cheaper service by bundling, it may be time to consider why you aren't.

hio77:
mgc54: We have our landline with Spark and our ADSL Internet with Xnet, have done so since 2006 and really like the service from xnet.

I am loathed to change to spark for ADSL as brother in law has Spark ADSL in our town and gets consistantly slow broadband connection speeds than we do with xnet.

Ild say the speed issues your brother in law has on Spark relate to his xdsl situation rather than the provider themselves.

I'd agree but OTOH if you're happy with Xnet, it's probably worth considering why you've got an unbundled situation too. In other words, rather than considering switching to having Spark as your ISP, consider having your homeline with Xnet/WFC. From what I can tell, they do offer bundled connections.

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