I notice that BT are increasing  residental min call charge from 1/4/2006 . From 4.2p to 4.6p ex vat

See  http://www.serviceview.bt.com/list/notifs/23-03-2006/Gen_Notes.boo/0001_200603121239294.htm

BT is also increasing the minimum call charge for the standard business tariff from 4.2p to 5.0p, ex  VAT.  

The cost of local and national business geographic calls is also going up, but not Ngn  0845 and 0870 calls which remain the same as present.  So local will be 4/1/1p from 3.36/0.85/0.85 and national 8/4/1.5p from 6.73/3.36/1.27p.  These changes also apply to discount schemes which are a percentage of the basic rates, such as BT Corporate Choices

Would it be too cyncial to think that such an increase will be so as to make the BT Fusion and VoIP offerings appear better value?
(oh yes - and have to pay for that "free" Caller Display somehow.)

wrote on Mar 24^th, 2006 at 11:56pm:

I notice that BT are increasing  residental min call charge from 1/4/2006 . From 4.2p to 4.6p ex vat

That's 5.4p inc VAT. Just how exactly is this wonderful competition reducing prices?  :-/

wrote on Mar 24^th, 2006 at 11:56pm:

I notice that BT are increasing  residental min call charge from 1/4/2006 . From 4.2p to 4.6p ex vat

Dave wrote on Mar 25^th, 2006 at 3:35pm:

That's 5.4p inc VAT.

No! I think BT are being particularly devious here! It's almost 6p inc.VAT!   >:(
They now round up call charges to the nearest half-penny.

If I understand it correctly, first you round up the ex-VAT cost to the nearest half-penny, so for any call incurring just the minimum charge, 4.6p becomes 5p ex. VAT, which then becomes 5.9p inc. VAT!
>:( >:(

Surely 4.6p x17.5 % brings it up tp approx 5.4p which rounded up to nearest half pence brings it to 5.5p.Which is the amount  they charge for E&W calls!

trevord wrote on Mar 25^th, 2006 at 7:08pm:

No! I think BT are being particularly devious here! It's almost 6p inc.VAT!   >:( They now round up call charges to the nearest half-penny. If I understand it correctly, first you round up the ex-VAT cost to the nearest half-penny, so for any call incurring just the minimum charge, 4.6p becomes 5p ex. VAT, which then becomes 5.9p inc. VAT! >:( >:(

I think you are right there Trev!

JoePublic, the rounding must be done before VAT is added as it is added as one lump-sum at the end, as it were.

This is particularly sneaky, as pointed out, there can never be a 4.6p charge for an individual call. What's more, the current 4.2p minimum charge (excluding VAT) must surely be rounded up to 4.5p which makes it 5.29p and not 5p. How are BT allowed to describe the charge as 5p, when it appears that it is rounded up?  :-/

I sincerely believe that every 'improvement' or additional service provided by telephone companies is provided on the premise that its 'Design' department (for want of a better word) must devise a way of counteracting giving away such a service for 'free'.

Take BT 1571; free to the recepient. All those minimum charges soon add up as too do those short calls made on BT Together Option 1 at (allegedly) 5.5p for up to an hour as opposed to 5p. This latest price increase is yet another way of making free BT 1571 pay for itself.

Another example is caller display. This has been a complete rip-off for years, and should have been free a long time ago. But today's corporate telecoms market has the gaul to charge extra. What's more, BT makes it free, then increases the line rental for everyone (yet again). A 50p increase for everyone will generate more income than the £1.75 BT extorted from those who paid for it. What's more, those who pay for it must 'opt-in' to the free version.  ::)

Thanks for pointing that out Dave.

On the link provided in the OP, it says:

Quote:

CALL CHARGE ROUNDING Operative Date:01.10.2005 Call Charges are expressed in pence per minute. The call duration will be rounded up to the next whole second.

Then here it says:

Quote:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Call durations are measured up to the whole second and the call charge is rounded up to half of a penny, except for calls to Number Translation Services (NTS) which will be rounded up to a tenth of a penny. Calls to mobiles using NTS will be rounded up to half a penny. The timed duration of a call begins only when the called party answers (this includes activation of answering machines and voice messaging services), and finishes when the calling party terminates the call. Operative Date:01.10.2005

So calls to NTS are rounded up to a tenth of a penny. This presumably means 070/084/087/09 numbers. But, it says that "Calls to mobiles using NTS will be rounded up to half a penny." So why/how would a call routed to a mobile be charged differently to one that is directed to a landline? Surely this isn't possible!

Dave wrote on Mar 26^th, 2006 at 11:20am:

..But, it says that "Calls to mobiles using NTS will be rounded up to half a penny." So why/how would a call routed to a mobile be charged differently to one that is directed to a landline? Surely this isn't possible!

Assuming they are talking about using call through providers but then the only way BT would know that a call to an NTS number is being used to re-route the call to a mobile would be to visit the companies website in question and check what that NTS access number is used for.

This seems like more trouble than its worth so if its true then why bother?

As far as the rounding goes, see the thread on MSE here.

I'm confused because the itemisation of calls shows values to the nearest tenth of a penny and totals them up to the nearest tenth of a penny (under the title "Cost of calls"). Then, the total in large print next to the subheading "Cost of calls" is higher than the total at the bottom of the section. Does this mean that the itemisation is pointless because it shows it to the nearest tenth of a penny?  :-/

Edit
A closer look at that section reveals several Ringback charges which have "No further detail" by them, so they are not included in the total at the end of the list of all the calls, but are listed at the site of the "Cost of calls" title. This appears to be where the rounding takes place. Now I'm confused because the BT Price List doesn't appear to tie in with what my bill says.

From the BT Price List:


Quote:

Each call charge will be rounded up to half a penny, except for calls to Number Translation Services (NTS) which will be rounded up to a tenth of a penny. Calls to mobiles using NTS will be rounded up to half a penny. The total call bill will then be rounded up to the next whole penny before VAT is added. VAT will be calculated up to the next whole penny. Fixed fee prices where duration charges do not apply, will be rounded up to the nearest tenth of a penny. Operative Date:01.10.2005

But on my last BT bill (received end of December) there is no evidence of rounding to the nearest 0.5p. I've checked the calcuations. The calls are listed to 0.1p and the total is correct to 0.1p. The VAT is then calculated from this, with the grand total finally rounded up to the nearest penny as you'd expect. So what is the price list talking about?