If I dial a number using the 1899 prefix on my Tiscali phone I get the message "sorry there is a fault" but the same number works fine on my BT phone. It used to work - does that mean Tiscali are now blocking 1899 calls?

It would appear so. Can you dial 18185 from Tiscali?

Only BT has an obligation to allow all numbers to be called.

Just a slight aside.

Now that Tiscali have bought out Pipex, which is both my ISP and call plan provider (BT Line rental), am I going to get the same problem ?? I also (infrequently nowadays) use 1899.

Now I seem to recall that when I was with OneTel, the same problem occurred and I then switched to Pipex to got around it. The problem started when they began doing line rental as well.

Looks like it might be dependant on having line rental from Tiscali as well.
Does anybody have any further recollections ??  :-/

1899.com say that if you are a non BT customer you need to dial the access number 0808 1 708 708 first. This is if you pay line rental to firms other than BT.

If you do this, some rates are higher than calling via the 1899 number. Rates for this are here.

With your Tiscali phone, is your line rental with Tiscali as well or do you pay line rental to BT on that line?

Line rental is with Tiscali hence the problem I presume. Interestingly, the only real change in the call rates that I can see is UK landlines @ 1p pm rather than 0p - which is the main reason I use 1899.

I would like to reiterate that only BT are obliged to allow calls via other CPS companies like call1899, etc and in fact BT are the only ones obliged to carry ALL calls to all the different number ranges.

So long as you actually pay linerental to BT (£10.50 per month minimum) then you are perfectly free to choose whichever company you like to carry some/all of your calls and that includes to CPS type providers like call1899, call18185, etc.

Anyone who uses alternative provider for the linerental (eg SkyTalk, Tiscali, etc) then they may find that calls to CPS providers may not be possible, or if it is, then they may choose to block at any time they wish, or even charge more for calls routed via another CPS provider (like Call1899, etc) or back to BT.  In fact, I know TalkTalk stated in their t&c that they would charge for calls routed back to BT and then of course BT would also charge for calls.  I'm not sure if TalkTalk still state this.

It's perfectly ok to use BT as your landline provider and say choose another CPS provider to carry calls (eg SkyTalk) and then choose another carrier like Call1899 for certain types of calls (like mobiles) which may be cheaper.

Most other landline providers charge around the same price as BT or slightly cheaper.  For example, I believe SkyTalk charge £10 linerental but even though i'm on SkyTalk, I still choose to keep my linerental with BT (costs me 50p extra) to ensure that I can swap and change providers as I choose fit which I generally do for international calls which I generally route via Call1899, Call18185, etc type companies.

Sorry bbb_uk, I think that posts's a little confusing - because you've mixed up the terminology.

In layman's terms, having a CPS (Carrier PreSelect) calls means that, although you keep your BT landline, pay 'line rental' to BT (BT Together Option 1 / the Unlimited Weekend Plan is the minimum) and your incoming calls still arrive on BT (so Caller Display, 1471 and 1571 work normally), you have opted to have the BT exchange programmed so that, by default, (nearly) all your outgoing calls are sent via the CPS provider (and BT don't even 'see' the calls even though they carry the first leg).

The 'default' part of that sentence is the key to CPS. It means that, if you want, you can use a prefix to send an individual call via another provider (i.e. override the CPS programming for a single call). For example, using just a 1280 prefix will send that call out via BT, using just a 18185 prefix (not 128018185) will send that call out via www.18185.co.uk (an 'indirect access' or 'override' provider).

In other words, CPS allows you still to pick the best carrier for your calls even though you've opted, normally, to use one provider (e.g. Primus Saver Option 2 because of the free evening and weekend UK 01/02 calls).

There is, of course, another type of calls provider - those providing specific access numbers and making their money via the cost of the call to the access number.  I call these gateway providers but some call them dial-through providers.

Hi Heinz,

I was aware my post may have seemed confusing with regards to CPS and the likes of 18185, etc.  I just didn't want to go into greater details to explain the differences in case doing so confused people even more.

Thank you for your layman's terms explanation.