How do you know which MVNOs 3 charge 35p/min for?

Kernel_Sanders

I've spotted this in 3's T & Cs :

[IMG]http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/3MVNO.png<a href=http://www35.zippyshare.com/v/SBjanPGS/file.html rel=nofollow>[/img][IMG]http://3MVNO.png<a href=http://www35.zippyshare.com/v/SBjanPGS/file.html rel=nofollow>[/img]

3MVNO.png

Even if you do know which ones aren't included in your allowance, how to you tell which numbers belong to them?

[Deleted User]

Don't actually know what they're referring to there but all UK mobiles (regardless of operator) are included anyway.

Frozen_up_north

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

Don't actually know what they're referring to there but all UK mobiles (regardless of operator) are included anyway.

Except I of Man and Channel Is mobiles and land lines.

On Three turn on your spending cap in "My3", it will stop you calling any numbers outside your bundle. You can turn it on again, if necessary.

[Deleted User]

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

Except I of Man and Channel Is mobiles and land lines.

Ahh, of course. That explains their terminology since they're not part of the UK.

Ian011

When you call a number allocated to a different provider, the usual arrangement is for that provider to demand a termination charge be paid to them for handling the incoming call. Only where the termination charge is low are these calls included in allowances. Numbers with high termination charges are excluded from allowances.

Inclusive allowances cover UK landline numbers starting 01 and 02 and non-geographic numbers starting 03 as well as UK mobile numbers starting 071-075 and 077-079.

Inclusive allowances do not cover landline or mobile numbers in the Channel Islands or Isle of Man. The list of these prefixes is far too long to commit to memory. Some providers publish this list in their tariff details. Although it's an Ofcom and ASA requirement to do so, some providers have declined to include the information. With those, you have to guess.

Inclusive allowances never cover personal numbers starting 070 or pager numbers starting 076.

Three additionally publishes a long list of "non-mobile" 07 prefixes that are also non-inclusive. Other landline and mobile providers publish similar such lists. They detail the 07 number ranges used by a variety of interactive and automated services including various dial-through providers. These are services that used to impose high termination rates on incoming calls with this additional revenue subsidising or paying for the additional service provided.

For many years, Ofcom has been steadily reducing termination rates charged by the main mobile providers for incoming calls made to their numbers from other providers. This is why inclusive allowances have continued to increase. Twenty years ago, £20 would have got little more than 30 minutes of inclusive calls. Nowadays, unlimited calls and texts can be had for around £10 to £15 per month.

On 1 May 2015 the regulations were amended by Ofcom to extend the mobile termination rate cap to cover incoming calls to all UK mobile providers, not just those made to the main mobile providers, i.e. the cap covers calls made to any UK provider using 07 mobile numbers. From this date, the "non-mobile" numbers category should have ceased to exist.

A recent Ofcom investigation has found no evidence of mobile providers charging termination rates above the Ofcom cap. However, most landline and mobile providers continue to publish a long list of 07 prefixes that continue to be excluded from allowances and which they continue to blame on high termination charges. This may be simple incompetence or it may be blatant profiteering. It's hard to tell.

For example, the list of "non-mobile" numbers published by Three has remained unaltered since 2011. It contains a number of prefixes that have since been re-allocated and are now used by Three themselves. In this case, the published list is likely to be out of step with what is actually charged.

The termination rate for calls to mobile numbers allocated in CI and IoM has always been higher than for calls to ordinary UK mobile numbers. However, this rate has also been steadily reduced by regulation imposed by the appropriate regulators in those places. Some time in 2018, the rates in CI and IoM should be the same as in the UK. From that point on, these numbers should become inclusive in allowances.

The long lists of excluded prefixes should disappear. In the 07 range, you'll only need to be wary of personal numbers starting 070 and pager numbers starting 076. However, Ofcom has some unfinished business in their long-running "simplifying non-geographic numbers" project. This has already simplified and cleaned up the workings of numbers starting 03, 08, 09, 116 and 118, and removed the 0500 prefix, but has yet to deal with 055, 056, 070 and 076. Perhaps this will also happen in 2018?



See also:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5682472
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5295051

Kernel_Sanders

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

On Three turn on your spending cap in "My3", it will stop you calling any numbers outside your bundle. You can turn it on again, if necessary.

You mean 'off again'!
Does this cap stop you connecting with a UK mobile which someone has taken on holiday outside the EU?

Ian011

When you call a UK mobile number from the UK, you are simply calling a UK mobile number and it is irrelevant where in the world the phone you are calling has been taken..

Frozen_up_north

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

You mean 'off again'!
Does this cap stop you connecting with a UK mobile which someone has taken on holiday outside the EU?

As per the other reply, it doesn't matter where in the world a U.K. mobile is located, it costs you the same as if it were still in the U.K.

The Three on/off over spend setting in your "My3" app, or web page, does stop chargeable calls being made - at least while you are in the U.K. It certainly stops you calling foreign numbers and the police 101 non emergency number. You can change the setting up to 4 times per month. Does anyone know if it stops those extortion type reverse charge texts that folk occasionally suffer from?