BT is axing another free service in HOURS after ditching phone books – how to avoid £1.55 a minute costs
BT is axing another of its free services in just hours after ditching phone books.
The telecoms giant will be pulling the plug on its online phone directory this week.
The company announced the cancellation of their iconic physical phone book in March, which was met with backlash from disappointed customers.
As of April 1, there will no longer be paper copies of the BT Phone Book posted through the letterbox.
BT said that the directory, which has had a place in homes since 1880, would then only be available online.
But now the company has confirmed it is axing the online phonebook too.
It will no longer be available after tomorrow, April 30.
The company said that searches on Phonebook.com have been steadily declining with so much information available online.
It added that most searches now take place via major search engines.
The axing of the online service does mean that customers looking for phone numbers will have to call 118 500.
This costs £1.55 a minute, on top of a 77p call charge.
In order to avoid these additional charges though, there is a way around it.
A digital PDF version of the Phone Book will be accessible online for free.
Customers will be able to find the PDF version on BT’s website.
Print copies are also available at a reduced cost of £10 plus postage for the first year.
Households shared their devastation earlier this month after discovering the physical book was being axed for good.
One, sharing a picture of their most recent copy on Facebook, said: “Came in the post today.
“Funny to think it’s the last one ever, to those younger it’s rather like Google closing down.
“Sad to think we will no longer experience that frisson of excitement as the new phone book drops through the letter box.”
A second said: “Anyone get their last ever phone book from BT? End of an era.”
A third commented: “We received our last phone book this week.
“What’s everyone’s thoughts on this? A sign of the times I suppose.”
A fourth added: “End of an era, remember how big they were once upon a time!”
How does text-to-switch work?
TEXT-to-switch makes it quicker and easier to leave your mobile company by giving you control over how much contact you have with your existing provider.
This is how it works:
Text ‘PAC’ to 65075 – and keep your mobile number
- Text ‘PAC’ to 65075 to start the process
- The existing provider will text back within a minute and send the PAC number which will be valid for 30 days
- The provider’s reply must also include information about any early termination charges or pay-as-you-go balances
- The customer then gives the PAC number to their new provider
- The new provider must arrange for the switch to complete within one working day
Text ‘STAC’ to 75075 – and get a new mobile number
- Most people want to keep their number when they switch but one in six do not
- Text ‘STAC’ to 75075 to get a service termination authorisation code
- The rest of the process is the same as above
Text ‘INFO’ to 85075 – and find out more
- If you are unsure about whether you will have to pay early termination charges text ‘INFO’ to 85075
- You will only receive this information
BT HISTORY
The broadband and telephone provider first launched its paper phone book in 1880.
It has since been printed every year, apart from a brief break between 1913 and 1920.
The first national phone book was printed in 1896, containing 1,350 pages and 81,000 entries.
By 1900, the directory had started featuring double columns due to the sheer number of entries inside.
But, the company announced last May the higher environmental impact of printing and distributing was one of the reasons it would cull the paper version.
Fans were also shocked to see BT ditch traditional home phones for millions of customers last November.
It added the move will save around 6,000 tonnes of paper each year – equivalent to 72,000 trees.
It comes after fellow directory titan Yellow Pages delivered its final paper edition in early 2019 after launching 51 years before.
The first edition of the household staple was published in Brighton in 1966, the same town it was last delivered to doorsteps.
In 2020, Argos announced it would stop printing its famous catalogue after almost five decades.
ALL CHANGE
The news today comes after BT has delayed its move to axe traditional landlines for millions of customers.
The telecoms giant originally proposed that all of its customers would be migrated from copper landlines to digital phones by 2025.
It’s part of BT’s Digital Voice Changeover plan and requires all households to have an internet connection.
But now the deadline for the switch has been delayed due to all companies pausing non-voluntary migrations.
Nearly all other landline customers in the UK, including Virgin Media O2, are due to make the switch.
BT’s original completion time in a year’s time is now unlikely due to concerns over putting vulnerable Brits at risk.
The move comes as part of an industry-wide shift from analogue to digital landlines, where calls are made over a broadband line.
This will see the decades-old, analogue equipment replaced with more digital technology.
As of December 2023, as ordered by the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, all non-voluntary migrations have been halted temporarily.
Meanwhile, a major telecoms provider with hundreds of thousands of customers will close another service.
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