Does anyone know if 0870 numbers can be used with VoIP, I think they can be as cheap as 0.6p to landline numbers? Could this be a way around this extortion? Any thoughts.

My VoIP service provider is based abroad - and does not seem to really understand what calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers cost - so I get them FREE!!!

Yep - that's right - I pay nothing to call 0870 and 0845; apart from the £10 I pay per month for unlimited calls to anywhere in USA, Canada, UK and 19 other European countries!!!   ;D

VoIP is to POTS as email is to letters. Who expects to pay for email? No one. And pretty soon no one will want to pay for calls as they can all be done via the internet.

BT is already 50% moved to VoIP. All routing and forwarding is done via VoIP. Plus many companies and government organisations are install VoIP switches and access points.

This means that soon you will start to see VoIP 'address' appearing on web sites. These are just like email address (indeed can be indentical) but will actually connect you to their phone system.

So just like as now you click on an email address on a web page and your email programs opens and starts a new email - you will click on a VoIP address and your VoIP phone (plugged into your broadband router) will dial the number!!! This can only be FREE!

The government and all companies trying to rip us off with 0870/0845 will have to give out VoIP address as they have to be seen to keep up with technology.

I can't wait!!

And - NO; I'm not telling you who my VoIP supplier is or you'll all want to sign up and they will catch on!!!  ;D

I use Skype for internet calls and whilst Skype to Skype calls are free around the world the charge to call non-Skype geo-graphical numbers around the world includiing the UK are 1.4p per minute but if you call a non geo-graphical number in the UK like 0870 or 0845 the charge will be 15.5p per minute. This of course is far more expensive than using a UK landline.

This information is from the Skype web page.

I do not know the charge from any other type of VoIP source.