Neighbour BT line died and no SKY TV working

[Basisboy]

Hi, I'm an NTL customer and out of my depth here...
Yesterday, Monday 30th October BT installed works ADSL into my house (again to replace but that's another story!).
This was installed after a couple of hours - the engineer had to configure the line up the top of the pole located in the street near my house.

However, soon after my next door disabled neighbour called and asked what BT had done? As her telephone line was now dead... She rang BT and was told that the engineer had accidentally knocked her line out - but wouldn't be able to rectify until Wednesday at the earliest.

I'm needing extreme co-operation with my neighbour as I am undergoing extensive building work, and my developer requires scaffolding on her property. The scaffolding was installed yesterday Monday 30th - and soon after she called again to say her SKY TV (looks digital dish) is no longer working. Although it could be the scaffolding that is blocking the signal (although it does look clear line) it appears from conversations with friends that digital SKY TV requires a BT line to work....

My next door neighbour is now extremely upset - she suffers from MS, and I am unable to help her personally with the BT / SKY problem. I need the developer / scaffolding company to contact SKY to troubleshoot - but of course if the fault with her SKY is BT landline then this lies the whole problem with BT! She is now telling me that the scaffolding will have to go if she has no TV soon....

Could someone please confirm that SKY digital will not operate without a functioning BT landline? Or is this aload of bull.....

Also anyone like to stab a guess on how much it cost's to get someone to relocate a SKY dish???

Thanks in advance!

[Paul K]

BT landline issue won't cause her to lose her Sky signal but a scaffold errected in line of sight between the dish and satelite will. The BT landline is hooked to the Skybox to provide things like interactive services etc, our's isn't connected and our Sky works fine.
As to re-siting the dish, it could cost as little as £50 upwards depending on the installer, you don't have to get a Sky one in to do it.

[ian@huth]

Sky reception does not rely on any telephone line. You only need a telephone line connecting for the first 12 months in order for you to qualify for free STB and installation. After the initial 12 months you only need a telephone line connected if you have more than one Sky digibox and want to take advantage of the £10pm multiroom card. The telephone line is only used by them in this case to verify that all your Sky boxes are connected to the same telephone line be it BT, NTL or whatever. My Sky boxes are connected to my NTL telephone line.

Unfortunately this means that the scaffolding is interfering with your neighbours Sky reception or the scaffolders have knocked the dish out of alignment when putting the scaffolding up.

[Paul K]

In which case your scaffold people need to rectify the issue ;)

---------- Post added at 10:16 ---------- Previous post was at 10:13 ----------

Oh and I would expect BT are right and the engineer has knocked her line out, get her to call BT and tell them she is disabled and requires the phone on and working, they actually have a special form she can get sent out that will then put the details onto her account that she is disabled and must receive faster responses for repairs.

[Basisboy]

Thanks for the advice, I thought it was the case... sounds like my builder / scaffolder has to sort something out. It did have to all happen on the SAME day... Telephone, TV and scaffolding... it never rains :(
Cheers for the help and advice.

[superbiatch]

I'd reiterate that your neighbour is disabled and it should take priority as her phone is her lifeline (even if you lay it on thick) - hopefully it will win you some brownie points as well. Might i suggest a bunch of flowers also, if you're needing to keep your relationship on a good level ;)

[Paul K]

No need to lay it on thick ;) I worked on the BT repair lines for a few months and I can tell you that if you make sure they are aware of the neighbours health issues and the importance of her having a properly working line they WILL do what they can to get an engineer as soon as possible. Might want to ask about having her calls diverted to a mobile if possible too. If you get no-where with the advisor ask for escalation, you will be called back by someone who will be more able to push things through. One thing though, DPA stops the OP from calling BT unless the neighbour calls and clears it with BT first ;)

[dragon]

Sky reception does not rely on any telephone line. You only need a telephone line connecting for the first 12 months in order for you to qualify for free STB and installation. After the initial 12 months you only need a telephone line connected if you have more than one Sky digibox and want to take advantage of the £10pm multiroom card. The telephone line is only used by them in this case to verify that all your Sky boxes are connected to the same telephone line be it BT, NTL or whatever. My Sky boxes are connected to my NTL telephone line.

Unfortunately this means that the scaffolding is interfering with your neighbours Sky reception or the scaffolders have knocked the dish out of alignment when putting the scaffolding up.

Or for a 1 off payment of £25 if you just want a single standard digibox you can get sky without the phoneline ;)

Thats what i ended up doing as i was to lazy to rewire the socket by the tv to the active line and i dont want extensions tacked to the walls either ;)