i am planning to quit sky talk, i am wondering anybody can give some ideas about a new service provider with free evening and week end calls. i know primus saver 2 is a good option, but who knows they will also restrict over riding CPS.

jrawle wrote on Sep 25^th, 2008 at 1:54pm:


Remember with BT if you do not pay by direct debit or do not agree to have a 'paperless bill' you will get charged extra. However I have to say that I have my telephone line rental, all calls and broadband connection with BT and they have never ever given me any trouble.

Remember unless an official complaint is made to Ofcom that this goes against the whole idea of CPS and the fact that Sky haven't informed anyone, then Sky will get away with it and if they do then its possible other CPS providers will follow suite.

irrelevant wrote on Sep 25^th, 2008 at 10:10am:


Yet Part A. 4.5   Says . If you are a Sky Talk Calls only customer, some calls may not be carried by Sky Talk (e.g. reverse charge calls, some calls to directory enquiries, calls made to emergency numbers and some internet calls). These calls will be automatically routed via your line rental provider and may appear on your line rental provider’s bill.

It is definitely BT Wholesale which dreamt up Wholesale Calls Line Independent, in full knowledge that CPs that take WCLI gain control of Openreach lines that consumers are paying BT Retail to use.

Ofcom's latest response to my complaint about this scam is:

03 October 2008

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your query.

We are currently in discussions with BT to clarify the situation and will respond to you as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

:: John Ingham

I have responded as follows:
Thank you. As one of the citizen-consumers that Ofcom serves, may I summarise the legal position.

1. BT Wholesale appears to have slipped WCLI past Ofcom with the lie that it is equivalent to CPS.

2. BT Retail has purported to introduce a new condition 3 for domestic telephony which is plainly unfair, and therefore void.

(see this link)

3. Sky is, so I read in several web forums but cannot personally confirm, slamming from CPS to WCLI consumers who are paying BT Retail for use of an Openreach line, and also taking SkyTalk (or whatever they call it).

4. In these circumstances, if the consumer instructs BT Retail to route a call via BT, by using the 1280 prefix, BT is contractually bound to obey that instruction, and only BT (Retail) can bill the consumer for that call.  If Sky bills the consumer for the call, the consumer has no contractual obligation to pay Sky for it. On the contrary, the consumer should insist that he instructed BT to carry the call, and if BT has capriciously subcontracted it to Sky, Sky must look to BT for payment.

5. Moreover, the consumer has claims for damages against BT Retail for misrepresentation, against BT Wholesale for inducing a breach of the contract between BT Retail and the consumer, and, if Sky persists in seeking payment, against Sky for harassment for payment of a non-existent debt.

6. Finally, all this seems to me to be prima facie evidence of a conspiracy between BT Wholesale, BT Retail, and Sky. If so, Ofcom should not only be regulating against it, but also informing the police.

a very nice man wrote on Oct 6^th, 2008 at 7:15pm:

I presume you are referring to BT Privacy which requires the subscriber to make two chargeable calls per month. If the 1280 prefix is barred from a particular CPS provider, then this will not be possible and BT Privacy will cost £1.75 per month.

jrawle wrote on Oct 6^th, 2008 at 8:00pm:

Thanks. I didn't realise this.

The main page detailing BT Privacy which I linked to only mentions chargeable calls in the small print at the bottom, although it does provide a link to the terms and conditions which are as you've said.