scrubbedexpat056

Hi,
We signed the acte de vente on our house in Carcassonne on Friday and now the fun begins with the utilities. The one thing I am not sure about is how the landline works here in France. We will be going with a phone/internet package, possibly with at least one mobile phone contract and there is a landline in the house, though I don't think it has been used for at least a year. Do we have to first get it connected by the equivalent of Telecom in UK and then get a supplier to take over the contract or do I approach whoever we choose to do it all for me?

EuroTrash

These days I think any provider can arrange for a telephone line to be connected. Pick a provider and see what they say!

Chatter Static

In France you can have Adsl "Broadband" without paying line rental for the copper wires that supply it or fibre if you live in a area with it, you can still have a phone number which is localised to your area but your calls come come and go via VOIP.

EuroTrash

Actually I've never understood this.
I started off with France Telecom and they gave me an 02 33 XXXX number.
I moved to Alice on a package with VOIP calls and no line rental and I kept the 02 33 XXXX number.
Alice got taken over by Free and eventually I switched my alicebox for a freebox. And I was given an 07 XX XX number.
The 02 33 XXX number still works for incoming calls, but when I dial out it's the 07 number that shows on the other person's caller display.
It's a bit annoying because to me 07 numbers look a bit dodgy, 02 numbers have moire credibility, but since I use the landline maybe half a dozen times a year it's not a biggie.

Tweedpipe

As I'm always full of useless info - ex scientia vera, here's a little snippet concerning the 'Alice' telephone girl that appeared regularly on the TV ads around 2005/10, giving great pleasure to many - myself included. Anyone else here remember her?
She was Vanessa Hessler, a young model, and the regular evening ad spots gave her real notoriety in France & Germany at the age of 17. She fell rapidly from popularity after announcing a several year love affair with the son of Gaddafi, after which Telephonica - owners of the Alice ADSL brand name - put an end to cooperation with her.
Alice

EuroTrash

Thanks for that, Tweedie!
There was a very entertaining blog that I followed for a while, because the service totally fell to pieces during the takeover - couldn't access emails, couldn't get online, couldn't do anything - and a kind of community of disgruntled alice subscribers developed to exchange vitriol. One chap started a blog cataloging in detail all his many attempts to communicate with their SAV. This went on for months and months, he made it his mission to try and get them to explain what was happening and issue an apology to their subscribers. He had a very dry sense of humour and a way with words and I found it quite compulsive reading. Eventually it all sorted itself out, nobody got any compensation but at least we could send and receive emails again, and then out of the blue, many months later, this chap posted a PS to his blog because apparently he had had a phone call from Alice/Free customer service to, belatedly, follow up his complaints. Of course he imagined that it was "Alice" herself at the other end of the phone and described how all the anger and frustration left him and he dissolved into a puddle on hearing HER voice speaking his name. Hilarious to read. I'll see if I can find the blog but I suspect it's probably long since vanished into the ether..

Chatter Static

With Orange you can op to not have the 06 or what ever it is and just use the localised number, If you phone you provider you will probably find this is an option with them considering they are just leasing it all from Orange anyway.

Tweedpipe

ET, thanks for the brief blog summary.