BT stopping btinternet email addresses
 

As per title I received an email stating:
"This summer, we're simplifying our email product range and we'll be closing some of our email services on 16 September 2013.
This means that your email address will stop working after that date."

I`ve had a btinternet.com email address for about fourteen years. Consequently I`m registered with umpteen sites and changing everything to another address seems virtually impossible. As I don't use BT broadband anymore the nice people there say I can keep the address if I pay 1.60 a month for premium email. Is this a con or has anyone else heard of this? The thought of paying for an email address goes against the grain tbh.

Call them up if you're unsure, but I've done the same myself in the past to keep an ISP email address that I'd used a lot, so it's completely plausible.

It's genuine. I thought it was a phishing e-mail for a start, but I've had to re-register two of my addresses with them.

The really irritating thing is I have BT Broadband, yet they've still asked me to do it.

If you'll have to change your email address anyway, register your own domain and set up email forwarding. That way the address you give out belongs to you, and you're free to pick and choose whatever email provider you like - you can change provider whenever you want without ever having to change your email address again.

Yes it's for real we are also with BT and had to do it, I was wondering about it at first but checked it out before doing it.
i can understand why they are doing it as it costs them money to service the accounts which they get no revenue from, after all if you want a forever account use hotmail / gmail etc as these are serviced by the ads etc.

I use my main domain email for emails generally and a few go through the BT account to save any future hassle if we should ever move isp's.

After 15-years with my BT Yahoo account I've just got fed up with the current webmail interface and switched to GMmail. I've also reconfigured my outlook. I could understand the charge if the email service was half decent but spam filter is useless and there's no ad-free option. Just anoter case of BT looking after their share holders rather than their customers:mad:

Am i missing something as it says this on their webpage in the questions section half way down that current @btinternet.com address's won't be affected

http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/d...email-services

Will my email addresses, usernames and passwords all stay the same?

Email addresses

When moving to the new BT Mail, your addresses will stay the same, including all your sub-accounts. Existing @btinternet.com, @btopenworld.com and @talk21.com email addresses will stay the same.

Passwords

We always recommend that you change your password regularly. As part of the change, we may in some cases ask you to update your email password to a new one to help ensure that you keep your account safe and secure.

Disposable email addresses

Sorry, disposable addresses or aliases won't be moving across to BT Mail. We'll be in touch nearer the time with help.

I think BT are moving the consumer mail system to Microsofts Office 365 platform

The deal with Yahoo has run out

So BT Mail will essentially be a "BT" front for Office 365

Could be wrong, but that is what I think is happening

If it's for none / ex customers then charging is fair enough ..

Does it include current though ?

I'd say that's very unlikely. In my case, the only reason I was paying anything at all (around half what the OP's cited here for BT's premium email) was that I'd ceased being a customer of the ISP my address was with.