1899: Tarrif Price Doubled - Cable Customers!!! merged

PACH

Has anyanybody noticed that the call charges went up to 1p/min? Any sugestions for a better deal?

Lady_K

I didn't notice till you just posted this thanx! No notice either when I call anyone as yet.

Seems a bit unfair that its free from bt line but I wouldn't ever go back to bt no matter what.

Its not long since they put it to 0.5p Do you think this is because of NTL?

When it went up to 0.5p per minute I started using NTL again for evening calls and weekend only difference was the 3p 1899 connection to NTLs 5p one. I still have been using 1899 for non local calls though but in the evening now its going to be the same really well apart from the 2p difference in connection. Don't think theres much we can do about it though, there doesnt seem to be much else around to swap to

utilitybroker

If you choose to use NTL you must pay the price.

Its nothing to do with NTL someone has to pay for the Free Call to access the 1899 service.1899 are just passing on costs.

FirstTelecom are slightly cheaper at weekends to national numbers as opposed to 1899 and NTL. 0.8p a min instead of 1p .

Lady_K

Well I don't understand why bt users dont have the cost passed onto them then but maybe I'm missing something. It's still cheaper for me to stay with ntl though because I have a special deal with them for 2 phonelines bt wouldnt match that, its the main reason I stay with ntl

Stuart_W

utilitybroker wrote:

If you choose to use NTL you must pay the price.

Its nothing to do with NTL someone has to pay for the Free Call to access the 1899 service.1899 are just passing on costs.

If 1899 are just "passing on costs" how come the phone coop are quite happy to offer evening and weekend calls for 4.7p per call for up to 60 minutes?? This works via an 0800 free call access number too. Just like 1899 there are no other fees and you can choose which calls you put on the phone coop and which you don't.

If you've got an NTL line (and admittedly, like the original poster, there need to be reasons that are not phone call cost related to justify having NTL in the first place - such as the Broadband / TV deal you're committed to, or no BT line at property) then hunt round for the best deals just like BT customers.

As I've already mentioned http://wakeup.to/cheapercablecalls is a great place to start.

bunking_off

utilitybroker wrote:

Its nothing to do with NTL someone has to pay for the Free Call to access the 1899 service.1899 are just passing on costs.

For calls originating on BT, suppliers such as 1899 have to pay BT for call origination whether the customer uses 1899 or the 0800 equivalent. I don't have the latest rates to hand, but for 1xxx codes they'd pay in the order of 0.3-0.4ppm peak depending on their connectivity to BT. For 0800, the figures are nearer 0.5-0.6ppm.

Obviously, ntl etc aren't regulated about what they wholesale charge for 0800 access, so their rates may be higher and that's why 1899 will pass the costs on.

Don't forget, on top of this 1899 have to pay to terminate the call (similar price again), plus the slight matter of running their own operation. Put in this context, you can see why the deals previously available of e.g. 1p per call were simply unsustainable.

Stuart_W

bunking_off wrote:

For calls originating on BT, suppliers such as 1899 have to pay BT for call origination whether the customer uses 1899 or the 0800 equivalent. I don't have the latest rates to hand, but for 1xxx codes they'd pay in the order of 0.3-0.4ppm peak depending on their connectivity to BT. For 0800, the figures are nearer 0.5-0.6ppm.

Obviously, ntl etc aren't regulated about what they wholesale charge for 0800 access, so their rates may be higher and that's why 1899 will pass the costs on.

Don't forget, on top of this 1899 have to pay to terminate the call (similar price again), plus the slight matter of running their own operation. Put in this context, you can see why the deals previously available of e.g. 1p per call were simply unsustainable.

This is all very impressive technical knowledge! Thank you.
So, I guess this must mean that The Phone Coop and Utility Warehouse operate various tariffs at a loss then, for cable customers. As long as I can get hour long calls for less than 5p I'm not complaining!!

bunking_off

There's a certain amount of "netting off" goes on....e.g. an operator that provides a flat rate tariff regardless of when the call is made will be gambling that you'll make more calls in the evening. In broad terms, evening wholesale rates are half daytime ones, weekend rates a third.

Nevertheless, I'm sure we won't shed many tears, but outside BT there's very few fixed line telecoms operators in the UK making any money. There's a glut of capacity, and the net effect is usual practise is to treat the network as a sunk cost and price at something which will cover the interconnect charges.

Typically, as per 18866, operators offering low rates are on loss-leaders in the hope that customer latency will mean many won't move when they subsequently hike rates...in this way it's pretty much like any industry, e.g. the banks get your savings in the door with a headline interest rate then drop it as soon as you're not watching. Obviously, everyone on this site is their worst nightmare because we do follow the prices.

The other factor on a lot of the pricing is how the underlying service is being provided. Obviously, everyone has to use BT to originate & terminate the calls (or ntl as the case may be), but there's then the question of the network in the middle. Small operators like you cite may rely on bargain basement kit (you can get traditional technology stuff on ebay, and VoIP kit can essentially be as simple as a high-end PC). For the "brand names", however, you tend to find that regardless of the name on the tin (Tesco, Post Office, Talk Talk, OneTel, Tele2, Phones4U etc etc) the underlying network will be either Cable & Wireless, Thus or Opal. As such, the tariffs offered by each provider are just their spin on what the underlying network operator's charging them.

derb

Seems to me from checking that the cheapest way to call the US, Canada or France at the moment might be by using "Teletop" http://www.teletop.co.uk/ - you call a £1.50 premium number to top up once (valid 90 days) then pay £.05 connection and 0p a minute to all of the above destinations (plus the cost of a local call) until your money runs out. No good for UK calls though, and can't be used from mobiles (yet).

utilitybroker

derb wrote:

Seems to me from checking that the cheapest way to call the US, Canada or France at the moment might be by using "Teletop" http://www.teletop.co.uk/ - you call a £1.50 premium number to top up once (valid 90 days) then pay £.05 connection and 0p a minute to all of the above destinations (plus the cost of a local call) until your money runs out. No good for UK calls though, and can't be used from mobiles (yet).

That makes the cost of calls at peak rate on BT 3p a minute,unless you have an inclusive 24/7 plan.So 18185 would be cheaper.