International calls through 0844 - BT rip-off

susan963

I've been using Budgetcom for cheap international phone calls for nearly a decade now through an 0844 access number. I've just found out that the prices have gone up immensely due to BT increasing their access charge from July last year to 10.24p per minute making the cost of a 53-minute phone call nearly £6.00 on our last bill, of which Budgetcom still only charged 1p per minute (53p)! I can't remember what the BT access charge used to be, but it was definitely much, much cheaper. How can they justify an access charge more than 10 times in excess of the service charge itself? Are there any cheaper alternatives to make international phone calls to Europe? I only use the service a couple of times a month, for an average 40 minutes each time, but I'm not prepared to pay these rip-off BT charges. Using Skype is not desirable, though if there is no other alternative I might resort to it.

Ian011

Prior to 1 July 2015, BT's Access Charge for calls to premium 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers was effectively zero. Almost everything you paid to BT for the call was passed on and paid to benefit of the telecoms company that was running the non-geographic number. After any call-handling and call-forwarding fees were deducted, the remainder was paid out to the service provider as revenue share.

Historically, BT has always been the largest supplier of 0845 and 0870 numbers to businesses. When the telecoms market was deregulated, it was decided that BT would not be allowed to make profit on call origination to 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers. BT would be allowed to make profit only on call termination and only on calls to the numbers that it actually hosted. This obscure Ofcom rule was known as the NTS Retail Condition. The rule also covered newer number ranges such as 0843, 0844, 0871 and 0872 as they came into service.

Other providers were allowed to make profit on call origination, hence the well-known phrase 'other providers and mobile networks may charge more'. This was a rigged market that saw many businesses signing up for various 084 or 087 numbers after being told the low rates that BT customers paid for these calls. It led to widespread use of these numbers for inappropriate purposes such as customer services, financial services, public services and health services. The high rates for these calls when called from networks other than BT were due to the caller's landline or mobile provider having to pay out a chunk of money to the 'terminating provider' as well as many of them deciding to ramp up their retail prices to make extra profit.

BT has not been a monopoly supplier of telecoms services for a number of years and the rules capping their retail call prices for 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers were scrapped on 1 July 2015. The NTS Retail Condition is no more.

At the same time, the call price for these numbers was split into two parts, each separately declared. This was done to bring transparency to the pricing, making it clear that the organisation being called and their telecoms provider are benefiting financially from these calls. This is something that many had denied for many years. Now they have to declare that they do - and by how much. It also forced landline and mobile providers to have a fixed margin across all of these numbers and a much simplified price list. The 200-page price listings for each network have been replaced by a single Access Charge on each network.

The changes have meant a sharp rise in the cost of calling these numbers from a BT landline, now costing much the same as calling these numbers from other landline providers. BT's Access Charge was initially 9.58p per minute and went up to 10.24p per minute a few months later.

The changes have also seen a massive decline in the cost of calling 09 and 118 numbers from mobile phones. Mobile operators had been adding on anything up to £5 per minute on some of these calls. Their Access Charges are now mostly around 45p per minute.

The Access Charge is the same rate across all 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers. It represents the cost of 'making the call'. There's a list of Access Charges at http://www.saynoto0870.com/costofcalling.php

The Service Charge varies according to the number being called and is the price of the service provided by whoever is operating the number.

The changes have made it uneconomic to use 084 and 087 dial-through providers from landlines. They have always been uneconomic from mobiles.

Most dial-through providers also offer 01, 02, 03 or 080 access numbers but you have to pay for the international leg of the call on account through a separate monthly bill. Likewise, there are providers such as 18185, 18866 and 1899 operating in a similar way.

As you are with BT presumably you still have inclusive calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers. Some dial-through providers use those numbers and some of these may still be inclusive within your allowance. For those, your international calls will be free.

There are a number of dial-through providers with 03 access numbers. With these you usually have to pay for the intentional leg of the call on account through a separate monthly bill. If you are calling landlines in Europe, there are some providers where you pay nothing extra for the international leg of the call. As calls to 03 numbers are inclusive from landlines and from mobiles, this is another way to make international calls for effectively nothing.




See also
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5219071
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5292529

susan963

Thank you, Ian, for your exhaustive reply! I'll look into those numbers you mentioned.

Does anyone know of a specific service I could try?

susan963

I've just found MSE's own "international call checker" but as a newbie I'm not allowed to post a link to it. I've found it very useful!

Look for callchecker.moneysavingexpert.com/intcallchecker/

wongawonga

Yes members are aware of the callchecker but i suggest you give it a wide berth as its not been updated.

Your notice it says at the beginning "Warning. On 1 July Ofcom introduced regulations that changed the way consumers are charged to call 084, 087, 09 and 118 numbers.
Please be aware this means some of the prices in the Callchecker won't be accurate for a short while until we've managed to update the data."

Thats Ist July 2015.

You dont say what destinations you wish to call or whether you have inclusive minutes so its not possible to mention horses for courses


For a general cheap service consider https://www.18185.co.uk ,using the indirect access 4p connection, and reasonable rates per minute.

They can be be beaten especially if you have inclusive 01/02/03 minutes.

BAW30s

It seems that as a result of the changes discussed in this forum the MSE International callchecker has been discontinued. I haven't seen any acknowledgement of this anywhere, which resulted in me spending time fruitlessly looking for it. :mad:
I did, however, locate the similar Nifty List.
It would be good to know if the International callchecker has been permanently abandoned, or if there are any plans to revive it.:cool: