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This guide is intended to support new BT Authorised Resellers in fully utilising the product portfolio, which will ultimately increase commissions and ensure that customers receive the right product and features. For those not presently BT Resellers, this guide assists in comprehending the procedures undertaken upon choosing to submit an application.
Although the BT Reseller Toolkit (available to existing Resellers) comprises of 95 pages, there are fundamentally only a few key services that you must grasp to become a successful reseller. These are as follows:
Click here to skip this section if you understand SOGEA and FTTP technology.
FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet), which is installed over a conventional phone line, has been in existence for numerous years and serves as the standard method for delivering broadband to the majority of UK customers.
As both consumers and businesses increasingly rely on the internet for communication through phone calls and video conferencing, the demand for standard phone lines has significantly decreased. Bearing this in mind, Openreach is phasing out legacy phone lines (known as PSTN) and reconnecting services to digital-only equipment at the local exchange. It is expected that this transition will be completed by or around 2025.
The transition from legacy phone lines to digital lines leads to the development of a product called SOGEA (Single Order Generic Ethernet Access).
Read: What is SOGEA?
In all instances, Resellers should refrain from selling non-digital phone lines if SOGEA is available. SOGEA cannot be purchased without an FTTC connection, so when you encounter the term SOGEA, be aware that it includes both a digital phone line and FTTC broadband, i.e., SOGEA+FTTC.
SOGEA lines do not possess a dial tone and therefore your customer cannot make phone calls. As a result, you must also sell Cloud Voice (where calls are sent over the Internet) if your customer wishes to maintain and make calls using their phone number.
FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) does not necessitate the use of lines (SOGEA or legacy lines), as the service is provisioned with end-to-end fibre. Speeds of up to 900Mbps can be achieved, providing a considerable improvement compared to FTTC services.
Read: What is FTTP?
Resellers are often unsure when comparing the Broadband proposition to BTnet leased lines. This is especially the case when comparing BTnet to FTTP which is capable of providing up to 900Mbps downstream bandwidth.
The following table shows the differences between leased line vs Broadband:
| BTNet leased lines | Broadband |
| Can provide symmetrical bandwidth of up to 10Gbps - the upload and download speeds are the same. | Can provide up to 900Mbps downstream but a maximum of 104Mbps. |
| Pricing is circa £300 per month. | Lower cost, less than £100 per month for top level FTTP circuits. |
| Dedicated fibre to your customer which is not shared with other leased line customers. | Shared infrastructure and performance can sometimes vary. |
| 100% Uptime guarantee with 4 hour fix time. | Offers Enhanced IT support with 24/7 troubleshooting. |
| Capable of adding a highly resilient and diverse second leased line for maximum uptime. | Optional 4G failover if your customer has the signal strength from EE. |
| Provided with Meraki security and WiFi as optional extra. | Offers content controls and web protection. |
The first step is to visit the BT Wholesale checker - this will provide you with an answer regarding Broadband availability.
Go here to use the BT Wholesale checker.
Enter your customer's landline phone number to begin. If the number is not recognised, an error message will appear. This indicates that the customer is not a BT subscriber, and you should use the address checker instead.
If the number is displayed, the check will show something similar to the information displayed below.
In this check, we can immediately see that both SOGEA and FTTP is available. Although not shown on this output, please ignore any reference to Fibre on Demand as this product is not currently available.
In this instance, we would recommend selling FTTP. However, you should also understand that if the checker indicates the customer is connected to a priority exchange, you must sell FTTP according to BT rules.
With FTTP, you need to decide on the bandwidth tier to sell your customer.
Note SOGEA+FTTP supports up to 76Mbps downstream and 19Mbps upstream.
The important point to note is that bundles refer to a "bundle" of services, which, at the time of writing this article, refers to Cloud Voice Express. Cloud Voice Express features either SOGEA+FTTC or FTTP and can be sold on 24-month contract terms. Cloud Voice Express cannot be sold with a traditional phone line and FTTC; your customer must be eligible for SOGEA+FTTC or FTTP.
Solus is the BT term used for standalone products, i.e. Broadband which is not part of a Cloud Voice Express Bundle. An important point to note is that Solus products can be sold on a 5 year contract term which results in a significant uplift in commission due to increased SOV (Sales order Value). Only Solus SOGEA+FTTC and FTTP are available on 5 year terms.
The following table shows the product features across Bundles and Solus products with Essential or Enhanced benefits.
Cloud Voice Express enables customers to make use of their new digital SOGEA line or FTTP service.
Cloud Voice Express is available on 24 month contracts and is complete with the Broadband product (SOGEA+FTTC or FTTP).
The next step up from Cloud Voice Express is the full Cloud Voice product which must be sold with a minimum of 3 licences.
Cloud Voice is a fully featured hosted VoIP service which includes:
In addition to the above, there are further available features to help build a customised solution.
Next, you can choose between selling unlimited calls per licence or a sharer plan (across all licences). And finally, any hardware from Yealink or Poly handsets.
All full Cloud Voice solutions are available on 3 and 5 year contracts.
As always, please let us know if you would like us to run through this article over MS Teams.