confused over Dial Up Pay as you Go Internet charges

Philip624

My ISP is Wanadoo and I have received an email stating that from 1 May they are changing the number used for dial up pay as you go to the internet and as a result although it will still cost 1p a min at weekends, it will be 2p a minute in the evenings and 4p a minute during the day. I am with BT. I thought with 'free' ISPs the only cost was the cost of a local rate telephone call, now unless BT are putting up the charges for local rate calls how can Wanadoo do this? I wonder if the new number will not be an 0845 number.

Any recommendations for dial up ISPs? Is it possible using a BT line to get dyatime access for less than 4p a minute? Only use infrequently so monthly flat fees wouldnt be cheaper.

caveat_emptor

You can go to ispreview.co.uk to get info on all isps.

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

Philip624 wrote:

I wonder if the new number will not be an 0845 number.

I think you've hit the nail on the head.

quoia

Phantom_Flan_Flinger wrote:

I think you've hit the nail on the head.

On the contrary it will still be 0845

0845 normal voice calls from BT have always been more than 1p per minute during "daytime" Monday to Friday - currently 3p / min

Basically OFCOM made some proposals back in Oct 2004.

including ....

Removal of links between BT 0845 / 0870 tariffs and BT local / national call rates;
New BT price ceilings: 0845 (4 pence per minute) and 0870 (8 pence per minute);

Specifically

Dial up Internet
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) offer consumers a wide range of dial up Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) internet services using the 0845 number range. These services provide low cost dial-up internet use for relatively light users of the internet.

ISPs are supplied by BT Retail itself and by alternative telecommunications providers, who use the difference between BT Wholesale's cost-based charges for originating and billing a call and the retail charge for a BT local call to create a margin for the ISP.

However reductions to BT's retail prices for local calls and the introduction of discount packages have created uncertainty about the margin between wholesale and retail charges and raised questions about the advantages of using 0845 to supply ISPs.

Ofcom’s proposed solution removes the link between 0845 numbers and BT’s normal local call rates; freeing both BT Retail and the alternative carriers to price their deals competitively to ISPs.

To ensure consumer protection, Ofcom has proposed price ceilings on BT for 0845 at 4 pence per minute; and for 0870 at 8 pence per minute. Within the price ceilings in the 0845 number range telecommunications carriers will be able to offer a range of bulk price deals to ISPs.

The ISPs will in turn be able to compete for customers on price as well as service features. This will sustain competitive pay-as-you-go dial-up internet services without the need for disruptive and costly number migrations.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2004/10/nr_20041022#content

mrJ_5

i have heard that most PAYG providers are switching 0845 numbers for 0844

you won't find any provider cheaper than 4p a minute during the day time, since this is the local call rate chrge anyway... best bet is unmetered dialup, however, ity looks like you have ruled it out already.

Just done a little calculation (makes me sound clever than I really am), if you use the internet for more than 175 daytime minutes a month - it would be cheaper for you to join zazizam's (https://www.zazizam.com) £6.99 package, which gives you 3600 minutes of anytime use - thats 21 times more usage, for the same price!

save-a-lot

Hi

Broadband packages are available now as low as £9.99 a month for a 1Mb connection, might be worth looking into. For £11.99 you could have a very fast 8Mb connection. How much do you normally spend on the Internet a month??

harry_r

HI
I use Flexi-surf for dial up. £5 per month for 60 hours usage. The billing is in 30 day blocks. Keep a watch on your billing though as it can sometime creep fowards. Been with them for over a year and quite satisfied.