As of yesterday the dial up number listed for Tesco.net  --  01256-758717  --  as a replacement for 0845-4551000  --  has been moved. All you get is an engaged tone. The 0845 number, naturally, still works.  Can anybody help on this please  --  it's going to cost me, and doubtless others, a fortune to use the 0845 number. I've tried searching, but no luck so far.

~ Message inserted by Dave ~
If you are looking for a number to contact customer services or technical support at Tesco.net, please refer to this thread.

Sorry but as with many of these, the old numbers were long established. They will probably have changed the internet management company as happened with Virgin.net some time ago.

I'm sorry but you'll just have to bite the bullet, as I will also have to do to retain my Mailbox with them.
Even though I'm on Broadband, I still have to dial in once a month to keep my alternate emails live.

Dam*, $od, ßugger, þoo & other unmentionables !! I really don't need this hassle again  :-/!

I've just spoken to OFCOM about this.  They say that it is very unlikely, although not impossible, that there is any revenue sharing involved in the use of an 0845 number. I must admit I thought there was no possibility, thinking that revenue sharing was done with 0870 & 090 numbers, but there you go. Anyway, I'm just going to put the question to Tesco directly  --  if there's no commercial interest then why shouldn't they divulge the geo number? I'm going to start with their tech support & go upwards if necessary.

MarkJTAllen wrote on Jan 13^th, 2006 at 11:30am:

I've just spoken to OFCOM about this.  They say that it is very unlikely, although not impossible, that there is any revenue sharing involved in the use of an 0845 number. [...] I'm just going to put the question to Tesco directly  --  if there's no commercial interest then why shouldn't they divulge the geo number? I'm going to start with their tech support & go upwards if necessary.

This is for pay as you go internet dial-up service? How do you pay for the service, other than through 0845 telephone calls?  ::)

Well my understanding is you pay the line provider for the use of the line. How an ISP makes money is a different matter  --  mostly through advertising I would guess, with subscription monies if you're using their e-mail, webspace or whatever. All you get from Tesco dial-up is one e-mail address; why I used them was simply that when I was setting it up for my wife on her home PC it was (a) free and (b) their installation was a doddle compared to Freeserve, which was so bad I abandoned it.

The reason I'm getting annoyed about this is that using the landline number that is hidden behind the 0845 number fools my telco. Their system simply sees it as another landline which is billed to me as free after I've paid my monthly sub. The 0845 number I get charged for.

MarkJTAllen wrote on Jan 13^th, 2006 at 2:11pm:

The reason I'm getting annoyed about this is that using the landline number that is hidden behind the 0845 number fools my telco. Their system simply sees it as another landline which is billed to me as free after I've paid my monthly sub. The 0845 number I get charged for.

But it is 0845/0844 dial-up numbers that pay for the internet service. The high volume of calls going through those numbers will allow ISPs to receive revenue on them.

Perhaps my understanding is wrong. What I believed was that the 0845 number was paid for by the owner of the geo number, whatever that number may be, a call centre, a computer, a police station, whatever. The 0845 number is used to provide an unchanging interface for the customer, which can be modified ad-hoc on the owner side for whatever reason.  It's a small but useful customer service. I believed that any charge involved was made by the telco to the owner for the mapping. What OFCOM told me didn't totally support that, they said revenue sharing was possible, but would be highly unusual. As distinct of course from the numbers known to be revenue generators.

Tell me what you know ......

MarkJTAllen wrote on Jan 13^th, 2006 at 3:03pm:

Perhaps my understanding is wrong. What I believed was that the 0845 number was paid for by the owner of the geo number, whatever that number may be, a call centre, a computer, a police station, whatever. The 0845 number is used to provide an unchanging interface for the customer, which can be modified ad-hoc on the owner side for whatever reason.  It's a small but useful customer service. I believed that any charge involved was made by the telco to the owner for the mapping. [...]

There are a wide variety of telcos out there providing non-geographical numbers (NGNs, ie 0845/0844/0870 etc). They all [can] provide the same benefits, the difference being cost. If you search the internet you will find many suppliers out there, some who provide 0845 numbers at no extra cost. No extra cost to the receiver, that is. The caller pays extra and some of that call charge goes to the NGN telco.

So you can see that your call charges subsidise this routing service. I suppose those companies who pay to receive calls are getting a worse deal than those who don't on the same prefix. But then again, the facilities that the NGN provides may be different. You pays your money (or not, as the case may be) and you takes your choice.

NGN telcos can share some of those call charges with the company being called. 0870 is simply a higher priced version of 0845, thus you are more likely to find that companies don't have to pay for it [themselves], and often receive revenue payments. As an example, have a look at UK2Numbers' revenue payments for 0870 here. You will see that the more calls to the NGN, the more they will revenue share.


MarkJTAllen wrote on Jan 13^th, 2006 at 3:03pm:

[...] What OFCOM told me didn't totally support that, they said revenue sharing was possible, but would be highly unusual. As distinct of course from the numbers known to be revenue generators.

Generally speaking, the higher volume of calls through a number, the more revenue NGN telcos share with their customers (ie the company being called), as in the example above. The volume of calls is obviously very high with dial-up internet services, especially compared to voice services (call centres). So they can get paid for getting calls coming through their 0845 numbers.

Hi there!

I have used the number 01256 758717  today ( Friday January 13th 2006 ) on my Nokia 9210i, and it works perfectly.  I would not bother with Tesco.net Support, because they do not know half what is going on.

James Bond

Well done that man! I just did a retry using the old connection and b*gger me it worked!!! :)

What the hell was all that about then?

I did wonder having reconnected whether they perhaps have a spread of geo numbers hiding behind the 0845. My company used to have a dial-back server for reps and others off-site, and that had about 10 lines to call in on; mind you it also had an auto-switch to move you if you dialled in on a line in use.

Strange.....

I Dont Know Whether This Is Relevant, But I recently Had A Customer Who Came Through To Me On Virgin.Net Tech Support Line ( I Work For Them ). He Asked Me For The 0845 Dial Up Number. As The Cmr Currently Had The 0844 Number I Asked Him If He Was Having Tech Issues With That POP Number. He Advised Me No And He Wanted The 0845 Beacuase BT Had Advised Him He Could Add 0845 Numbers To His Friends And Family List But Not An 0844. My Advice To Anyone Using Virgin.Net PAYG And Using BT Tel, Use The 0845 Number, Get It Cheeper, Put It On Your Friends & Familly List. 8-)