http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-10676934


BT to raise call charges by 10%
Telephone BT wants customers to sign up to annual contracts

Telecoms giant BT has said it will increase call charges by 10% and its monthly line rental by 50p from the beginning of October.

The majority of customers will be informed of the move by letter this week.

The cost of connecting a call will go up from 9.9 pence to 10.9p, while the daytime rate rises from 5.9p to 6.4p.

Customers who sign up to a year-long contract upfront will avoid the increased charges.

BT said it estimates the impact of the changes will be just 1p a day, because its average customer makes only 80 seconds of daytime calls each day, and more than half subscribe to inclusive packages.

It said "calling plans enable customers to avoid the set-up fee and charges for most calls altogether".
Cheaper rates

From October, BT customers will pay a landline rental charge of £13.29 a month, or £12.04 if they receive their bills by e-mail.

The price changes are part of a concerted move by the company to get customers to sign up to longer-term contracts and special bundled packages.

They are offering cheaper rates for those that do.

After 1 October, the standard cost of a landline will be £159.48 to those who pay the entire sum upfront, but for those who sign up before the end of October, the cost will be £113.88, which works out at £9.49 a month.

BT said it understood the price increases would not go down well with customers, but said it would be happy to discuss inclusive packages to reduce bills or different payment options, such as inclusive packages.




So, does this mean that BT want us to pay the year's line rental upfront? :-/

In a nutshell YES!

have a look at www.bt.com/linerental

was in an advert in the Sunday Express today

Thanks CJT-80 :)

As usual with BT it is all very complicated.

They are saying, and I quote from the link

Pay 12 months in one advance debit or credit card payment of £113.88, equivalent to £9.49 per month and save over £24 per year.

They then go on to say

If you currently get a discount for paper-free billing, this will stop

Which is  I think £1.25 a month, which is £15 a year.

My arithmetic makes that a saving of £9 a year, or have I misunderstood it all?

Sherbert can you provide me a link to where you have seen that part?

Here


http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProducts/displayTopic.do?topicId=29984

Typical BT.. making no sense!

This may explain it better..... however it's equally confusing...

I guess that the discounts are ALL included  :-? :-?

All very confusing and if I don't fully understand anything or think there is a catch, I don't take up any deal. I think the catch is the ending of the discount of paper free billing. Also there probably are more catches that I have not found out yet. No doubt their email/letter telling me of the changes will make my eyes glaze over even more!!!! ;)

BT never ever make anything simple. >:(

They almost remind me of Sky! (oh actually don't get me started with them)... if only O2 provided services to my local exchange I'd wave good bye to BT for good!

Anyone else noticed this price increase is announced within days of the BT/CWU 3 year 9% pay rise agreement?

sherbert wrote on Jul 18^th, 2010 at 7:52pm:

All very confusing and if I don't fully understand anything or think there is a catch, I don't take up any deal. I think the catch is the ending of the discount of paper free billing. Also there probably are more catches that I have not found out yet. No doubt their email/letter telling me of the changes will make my eyes glaze over even more!!!! ;) BT never ever make anything simple. >:(

I know I have mentioned this back at the beginning of the year, but I still think it is a bit shadey that BT do not advertise the 'evenings and week end' calling plans on their web site. They are still available as far as I know and indeed I am on this plan myself.

sherbert wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2010 at 2:52pm:

sherbert wrote on Jul 18th, 2010 at 7:52pm: All very confusing and if I don't fully understand anything or think there is a catch, I don't take up any deal. I think the catch is the ending of the discount of paper free billing. Also there probably are more catches that I have not found out yet. No doubt their email/letter telling me of the changes will make my eyes glaze over even more!!!! ;) BT never ever make anything simple. >:( I know I have mentioned this back at the beginning of the year, but I still think it is a bit shadey that BT do not advertise the 'evenings and week end' calling plans on their web site. They are still available as far as I know and indeed I am on this plan myself.

I left BT 20 years ago after 30 years service & I'm still confused,companies now run by accountants straight into senior management positions fresh out of university with zero experience in telecoms,no promotion through the ranks anymore

sherbert wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2010 at 2:52pm:

I know I have mentioned this back at the beginning of the year, but I still think it is a bit shadey that BT do not advertise the 'evenings and week end' calling plans on their web site. They are still available as far as I know and indeed I am on this plan myself.

Commercial organisations promote their products and services as they see fit, in order to satisfy their own ends of making a profit. Thus, consumers' choices are influenced more by what is advertised rather than what would be the best for them per se.

The main web page you refer to can be reached by going to [url=www.bt.com/callingplans[/url]]www.bt.com/callingplans[/url]

The comparison that is given is the most basic Calling Plan and the all inclusive one which costs £4.99 per month more. BT clearly feels that this serves it best in achieving its objective to dominate the market.

---

Bob1942 wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2010 at 3:05pm:

I left BT 20 years ago after 30 years service & I'm still confused,companies now run by accountants straight into senior management positions fresh out of university with zero experience in telecoms,no promotion through the ranks anymore

This same sort of cavalier approach gripped the railways which killed so many people.

Dave wrote on Jul 25^th, 2010 at 1:55am:

sherbert wrote on Jul 23rd, 2010 at 2:52pm: I know I have mentioned this back at the beginning of the year, but I still think it is a bit shadey that BT do not advertise the 'evenings and week end' calling plans on their web site. They are still available as far as I know and indeed I am on this plan myself. Commercial organisations promote their products and services as they see fit, in order to satisfy their own ends of making a profit. Thus, consumers' choices are influenced more by what is advertised rather than what would be the best for them per se. The main web page you refer to can be reached by going to [url=www.bt.com/callingplans[/url]]www.bt.com/callingplans[/url] The comparison that is given is the most basic Calling Plan and the all inclusive one which costs £4.99 per month more. BT clearly feels that this serves it best in achieving its objective to dominate the market. .

Thanks Dave :)

What has always made me feel BTs attitude(remembering how Strowger worked) is if it moves charge for it. Why charge extra for the 1471 press 3 option to connect to a missed call at 12p when if the customer could do this free he'd generate call revenue for BT & I think more people would use it same as the engaged ringback by pressing 5 why charge when call charges would generate revenue? I have never used these two facilities out of principle.

Bob1942 wrote on Jul 25^th, 2010 at 4:30pm:

What has always made me feel BTs attitude(remembering how Strowger worked) is if it moves charge for it. Why charge extra for the 1471 press 3 option to connect to a missed call at 12p when if the customer could do this free he'd generate call revenue for BT & I think more people would use it same as the engaged ringback by pressing 5 why charge when call charges would generate revenue? I have never used these two facilities out of principle.

The thing is that the prices they charge are what they can get away with.

Whole minute billing is something that BT has introduced, something which we might expect if we still had clockwork exchanges!

Call set-up or call connection fees are now a staple of BT and many others, and the minimum cost of calls has sky rocketed from the days when there was just BT.

And then there's rounding the cost of each call on a subscriber's bill to the next whole penny.

All these things are done so as to charge more, whilst not having to increase the published 'pence per minute' call rate!

Dave wrote on Jul 30^th, 2010 at 1:59pm:

Bob1942 wrote on Jul 25th, 2010 at 4:30pm: What has always made me feel BTs attitude(remembering how Strowger worked) is if it moves charge for it. Why charge extra for the 1471 press 3 option to connect to a missed call at 12p when if the customer could do this free he'd generate call revenue for BT & I think more people would use it same as the engaged ringback by pressing 5 why charge when call charges would generate revenue? I have never used these two facilities out of principle. The thing is that the prices they charge are what they can get away with. Whole minute billing is something that BT has introduced, something which we might expect if we still had clockwork exchanges! Call set-up or call connection fees are now a staple of BT and many others, and the minimum cost of calls has sky rocketed from the days when there was just BT. And then there's rounding the cost of each call on a subscriber's bill to the next whole penny. All these things are done so as to charge more, whilst not having to increase the published 'pence per minute' call rate!

If only common sense was used.I fully realise they charge what they can get away but if these 2 options were free more call revenue would be generated,just in my own case they've lost a lot of revenue if I'd actually made the calls using FREE option 3 or 5.

Just received my email about the forthcoming rise  >:(.....


Your line rental increases in October.

Dear Mr xxxxxxxx,

On 1 October 2010, your line rental will increase by 50 pence a month. We're also making changes to the cost of daytime calls, our call set-up fee, and call return service. You can find more details below.

We appreciate it's not the kind of news you'll welcome, but there's more news in this email which we hope you will.

For instance, we're improving two of our services:

• Personalised voicemail with our BT Answer 1571 answering service. From October, you'll be able to personalise your greeting at no extra cost. Just dial 1571 and press 2 to record your greeting. You could pay over £2.00 a month for a service including personalised voicemail from Sky, TalkTalk or Virgin Media.
 
• A place for everything online at My BT. Manage your bills and payments, get advice on our forums, get in touch via email and hear about our great value offers.

 
And don't forget about some of the other features your BT line currently gives you, like:  
• Calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers at no extra cost, at the same times as your inclusive landline calls. A ten-minute 0845 call on a Saturday morning costs £1.11 with Virgin Media, or 69p with Sky.
 
• BT 1471. If a caller doesn't leave a message, dial 1471, and it tells you who called you last.
 


If you ever need help, please contact us via bt.com/callchanges


Thank you for being with BT.

Yours sincerely,



Warren Buckley


Managing Director, Customer Service


continued.....

...continued


Changes to home phone prices in October 2010.

Standard Line Rental.


From 1 October 2010 the standard line rental charge will increase from £12.79 to £13.29 per month (£38.37 to £39.87 per quarter). Prices quoted are with payment by Direct Debit. Customers benefiting from the previous e-billing discount will continue to receive a discount of £1.25 per month (£3.75 per quarter) on the above prices. The changes to the standard line rental charge will not apply to customers who take or have already taken Line Rental Saver.


Call set-up fee.

From 1 October 2010, the call set-up fee for non-inclusive calls from landlines and for non-inclusive Broadband Talk calls will increase from 9.9 pence to 10.9 pence per call. Call set-up fees will not apply to:

• Inclusive weekend calls for customers on the Unlimited Weekend Plan.
 
• Inclusive evening and weekend calls for customers on the Unlimited Evening & Weekend Plan or the Broadband Talk Evening & Weekend Plan.
 
• Inclusive anytime calls on the Unlimited Anytime Plan or the Broadband Talk Anytime Plan.
 
• Calls to Freephone services and other inclusive calls not mentioned above.


Daytime UK calls.


From 1 October 2010, the cost of UK landline calls made during the daytime will increase from 5.9 pence per minute to 6.4 pence per minute. The changes to the daytime UK landline call price do not affect inclusive calls to numbers beginning 01, 02 and 03 (excluding the Channel Islands) of up to an hour made with the Unlimited Anytime Plan.

Call Return calling features.

From 1 October 2010 the charge for Call Return calling features (e.g. when you dial 1471 then press 3 or 1571 then press 0 to call someone that had previously called you or left a message for you) will increase from 12.2 pence to 16.5 pence per use.

Prices include VAT at 17.5% which may be subject to change.




Terms and Conditions


1. BT Answer 1571: Opt in required. At least two chargeable or inclusive calls (excludes BT Broadband Talk calls) on the BT analogue network must be made each month to avoid a monthly charge of £1 being added to your bill for the service. Deactivation of the 1571 service and deletion of messages occurs after 90 days' mailbox inactivity. Current Enhanced 1571 customers who pay £1.49 for the service including personalised greeting will have their charge reduced to £0 from 1 October 2010.
 
2. Prices correct July 2010. Comparison based on monthly calling feature rental charges: Sky Voicemail Plus with remote access - £2.50 per month; TalkTalk Voicemail Plus with remote access - £2.50 per month (£2.00 if taking 2+ calling features); Virgin Media Voicemail Plus - £2.00 per month (£1.75 if taking 2+ calling features).
 
3. 0845 and 0870 calls of up to 60 minutes' duration (excluding indirect access numbers and dial-up internet access). Fair Use Policy applies - maximum 1,000 minutes or 150 calls a month. If either of these limits on inclusive calls is exceeded, BT will charge for these calls until further notice. Terms and conditions apply.
 
4. Prices correct July 2010. Comparison based on pence-per-minute rates and set-up fees charged after 8am at the weekend. Competitor monthly line rental costs from £11.99 (Virgin Media) and £11 (Sky). Content of packages varies and prices quoted exclude calling circle discounts, where applicable.
 

Calls to 0871 will cost no more than 10ppm plus 9.9p set-up fee (10.9p from 1 October 2010); calls to 070 no more than 50ppm, with a maximum set-up charge of 50p. See bt.com/personal/pricing

Prices include VAT at 17.5% and are correct July 2010, but may change without notice at any time. Nothing in this email forms any part of a contract. Services and equipment are provided subject to British Telecommunications plc's representative standard conditions of contract.

I wonder if the 50p  monthly line rental increase is because BT haven't been told the broadband 50p per household surcharge  has been stopped by Cameron & co, or am I being sarcastic?

Bob1942 wrote on Jul 30^th, 2010 at 3:18pm:

Dave wrote on Jul 30th, 2010 at 1:59pm: Bob1942 wrote on Jul 25th, 2010 at 4:30pm: What has always made me feel BTs attitude(remembering how Strowger worked) is if it moves charge for it. Why charge extra for the 1471 press 3 option to connect to a missed call at 12p when if the customer could do this free he'd generate call revenue for BT & I think more people would use it same as the engaged ringback by pressing 5 why charge when call charges would generate revenue? I have never used these two facilities out of principle. The thing is that the prices they charge are what they can get away with. Whole minute billing is something that BT has introduced, something which we might expect if we still had clockwork exchanges! Call set-up or call connection fees are now a staple of BT and many others, and the minimum cost of calls has sky rocketed from the days when there was just BT. And then there's rounding the cost of each call on a subscriber's bill to the next whole penny. All these things are done so as to charge more, whilst not having to increase the published 'pence per minute' call rate! If only common sense was used.I fully realise they charge what they can get away but if these 2 options were free more call revenue would be generated,just in my own case they've lost a lot of revenue if I'd actually made the calls using FREE option 3 or 5.

It would stand to reason to say that BT has decided to set its price at a level it beliefs that it will generate the greatest return.

Astute subscribers will hang up and dial numbers directly rather than pressing 3 to return the call. But it is important to appreciate that the message does say "There is normally a charge for the service" and therefore doesn't make mention of the level of the charge at the point of use.

As I say, the charges don't necessarily reflect the actual cost and that is a product of the free market.


It's clear that the recordings "To return the call press 3" and "There is normally a charge for the service" are two separate ones joined together, the latter being at higher volume than the former. I'm surprised that it hasn't be re-recorded as it sounds rather amateurish.



Bob1942 wrote on Aug 3^rd, 2010 at 12:37pm:

I wonder if the 50p  monthly line rental increase is because BT haven't been told the broadband 50p per household surcharge  has been stopped by Cameron & co, or am I being sarcastic?

We have yet to find out how these improvements to broadband services are going to be funded.

Following the relaxation of the retail price controls on BT in 2006, many charges have sky-rocketed. Chiefly that of non-inclusive calls. RIP the 5 pence minimum charge for popular types of call (mobiles, 084, 087 and geographic/03 on non-inclusive tariffs).

---

Bob1942 wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2010 at 3:05pm:

I left BT 20 years ago after 30 years service & I'm still confused,companies now run by accountants straight into senior management positions fresh out of university with zero experience in telecoms,no promotion through the ranks anymore

This same sort of cavalier approach gripped the railways which killed so many people.[/quote]

'BT - the Ryanair of telecoms!'

amusingly enough I had a little argument with Virgin yesterday cause I wanted rid of my line..

"why do you want to disconnect sir?"
Because I want to.
"but what is the reason"
Because I want to.
"Having looked at your account, you used 400 minutes last month"
Because I want to.
"Please hold, I will put you through to retentions."

I mean really, dont they get the because I want to? Eventually they settled on some minuscule little discount, but I refused to take ANY inclusive call packages.

The next step, is if VM increase their line-rental, I disconnect completely, easy. But having read this thread, I do feel sorry for the confused people. I do hope many people move on over to an easier supplier, its not like there isnt much choice these days :)

More on the forthcoming price rise......


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313682/Landline-levy-Charges-soar-phone-lines-millions-switch-mobiles-internet-calls.html

sherbert wrote on Sep 20^th, 2010 at 8:04pm:

More on the forthcoming price rise...... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313682/Landline-levy-Charges-soar-phone-lines-millions-switch-mobiles-internet-calls.html

The basic fact which emerges from the nonsense littering this piece is that call charges for normal calls are becoming a thing of the past. The minority (34% in the case of BT) who pay for calls to landlines are incurring penalty charges. I hope that this article will help more to recognise this so that the percentages can be reduced.

The standard cost of a landline call to a geographic number, to be used when comparing with that for a 0845 or 0844 number, is 0p.

There is much to argue about with regard to the fairness of the cost of telephone service overall and the different deals offered by different providers. The way that mobile telephony is paid for at present is especially contentious. I personally support the removal of call charges for normal calls and this move helps the case that we argue through this forum enormously.

As the Daily Mail article says, this year has been a VERY bad year for landline charge increases on BT - and where BT leads, Sky and TalkTalk are never far behind. Virgin at least is to be praised for not jumping on the "evening starts at 7pm" bandwagon started by BT, but of course their home phone charges are much higher than all the rest anyway, meaning that it's only financially viable to take their landline service if you get their TV and broadband as well.

One significant BT price increase that the Mail doesn't mention is the 20p hike in the payphone minimum fee in June. Before then, 40p gave you a 20-minute call (equal to 2p a minute). Now the minimum amount you have to put in is 60p, which gives you up to 30 minutes. That's still only the equivalent of 2p a minute, which is an absolute bargain compared to the daytime rates of all landline and mobile phone providers, and every 15 minutes thereafter will set you back a mere 10p (about 0.67p a minute) - but come on, who on earth wants to stand in a drafty, noisy phonebox for half an hour? Most people who still use payphones only do so for short, organisational calls (e.g. "Hi Dad, can you come and pick me up from the station please?") - not social ones! If your call is only likely to last a few minutes, it's cheaper to use your mobile. How's that going to encourage people to use the payphones? The increases have been rapid and startling... From decimalisation in 1971 until 1984, the minimum call fee was 2p. From 1984 to 2000 it remained a reassuringly low 10p. But since 2000 it's gone up no less than FOUR times, in direct response to the rise in mobile phone usage: up to 20p in 2000, 30p in 2004, 40p in 2006 and a whopping 60p in 2010! Now I fully appreciate that BT has been making a big loss on payphones since mobiles became popular a decade ago, but putting the minimum call charge up to extortionate levels is really not the answer, as it will just drive people away from payphones and towards their mobiles! It's a Catch-22 situation!! The best solution would be for that old dog with no teeth, Ofcom, to realise that it is simply no longer fair or even acceptable, in this age of competition and deregulation, for ONE provider (privatised as long as 26 years ago) to have to provide an ailing public service largely by itself. ALL the major telephone providers - landline and mobile - should be required to share the burden, by paying an annual fee to BT towards the upkeep of the national payphone service.

BT's new daytime landline rates (from October 1st) are absolutely shocking. A 30-minute call to a geographic number will set you back a massive £2.03 (6.4p per minute, plus a connection charge of nearly 11p). I can make exactly the same call on my Pay as You Go mobile phone (on the Vodafone Smartstep tariff of 30p per minute for the first 3 minutes and 5p per minute thereafter) for a mere 22p more (£2.25)!!! Vodafone no longer offers Smartstep for new supply, but even with the flat-rate 8p per minute rates of Asda, Tesco and giffgaff (currently the cheapest PAYG rates on the market), such a call only comes to £2.40 (just 37p more than with BT). And, unlike BT, they don't charge a premium for calls to other mobiles! Guess which option most people will go for? Especially those annoyed at losing an hour of evening calls with BT. They won't pay an extra £4.99 a month for BT's fantastic Anytime calling plan (wishful thinking, BT!), just so they can use the phone between 6 and 7pm (why should they if they're at work all day?) - they'll simply reach for their PAYG or 'inclusive minutes' mobile.

Well done, BT! What planet are you on?

Trenod wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2010 at 12:54am:

BT's new daytime landline rates (from October 1st) are absolutely shocking.

The important point to remember however, especially when making comparisons with the cost of calling revenue sharing numbers, is that the rates charged for normally inclusive calls are PENALTY rates imposed on those who select a call plan to cover one period and then make calls at another time.

We must get away from the idea that these rates are the standard BT call charges - they are not.

If presented as the standard cost of a daytime telephone call, these rates make the rip-off cost of calling a GP on a 0844 number appear cheap. Most of those who contribute to this forum want to fight against this misleading nonsense.

We can argue about the principle of inclusive packages and the prices charged for call plans, however we must accept the reality of the situation as it is.

Is it really true that BT "made profits of £1billion last year, by tens of millions of pounds", as the Mail article says??? If so, that rather kills their excuse for this latest round of price increases (i.e. that they want to emerge from the recession in good shape) stone dead and buried!!!

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Sep 20^th, 2010 at 10:00pm:

The basic fact which emerges from the nonsense littering this piece is that call charges for normal calls are becoming a thing of the past. The minority (34% in the case of BT) who pay for calls to landlines are incurring penalty charges. I hope that this article will help more to recognise this so that the percentages can be reduced. The standard cost of a landline call to a geographic number, to be used when comparing with that for a 0845 or 0844 number, is 0p.

Indeed it is.

The same thing exists with mobile tariffs that have finite inclusive minutes. The cost of minutes in excess of those bundled are high and on a par with that for pay as you go tariffs.

The reason is the same. If extra call minutes weren't as expensive, then there would be less incentive to drive subscribers onto more expensive tariffs with greater volumes of inclusive minutes.



Trenod wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2010 at 12:54am:

One significant BT price increase that the Mail doesn't mention is the 20p hike in the payphone minimum fee in June. Before then, 40p gave you a 20-minute call (equal to 2p a minute). Now the minimum amount you have to put in is 60p, which gives you up to 30 minutes. That's still only the equivalent of 2p a minute, which is an absolute bargain compared to the daytime rates of all landline and mobile phone providers, and every 15 minutes thereafter will set you back a mere 10p (about 0.67p a minute) - but come on, who on earth wants to stand in a drafty, noisy phonebox for half an hour? Most people who still use payphones only do so for short, organisational calls (e.g. "Hi Dad, can you come and pick me up from the station please?") - not social ones! If your call is only likely to last a few minutes, it's cheaper to use your mobile. How's that going to encourage people to use the payphones? The increases have been rapid and startling... From decimalisation in 1971 until 1984, the minimum call fee was 2p. From 1984 to 2000 it remained a reassuringly low 10p. But since 2000 it's gone up no less than FOUR times, in direct response to the rise in mobile phone usage: up to 20p in 2000, 30p in 2004, 40p in 2006 and a whopping 60p in 2010! Now I fully appreciate that BT has been making a big loss on payphones since mobiles became popular a decade ago, but putting the minimum call charge up to extortionate levels is really not the answer, as it will just drive people away from payphones and towards their mobiles! It's a Catch-22 situation!! The best solution would be for that old dog with no teeth, Ofcom, to realise that it is simply no longer fair or even acceptable, in this age of competition and deregulation, for ONE provider (privatised as long as 26 years ago) to have to provide an ailing public service largely by itself. ALL the major telephone providers - landline and mobile - should be required to share the burden, by paying an annual fee to BT towards the upkeep of the national payphone service.

I agree with you here, although I don't believe that the cost of payphones will drive people to use mobiles. That suggests that you think that if payphones were cheaper than mobiles, that people would really use them instead of dipping their hand in their pocket for their mobile phone.

At the end of the day, public payphones are undoubtedly a public service that are unprofitable for any private organisation, apart from where BT's competitors have cherry-picked there locations, such as in busy train stations and bustling shopping streets.



Trenod wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2010 at 12:54am:

… I can make exactly the same call on my Pay as You Go mobile phone (on the Vodafone Smartstep tariff of 30p per minute for the first 3 minutes and 5p per minute thereafter) for a mere 22p more (£2.25)!!! Vodafone no longer offers Smartstep for new supply, but even with the flat-rate 8p per minute rates of Asda, Tesco and giffgaff (currently the cheapest PAYG rates on the market), such a call only comes to £2.40 (just 37p more than with BT). And, unlike BT, they don't charge a premium for calls to other mobiles! …

But unlike BT, they do charge a premium for calling landlines and don't offer discounts for connecting calls to mobiles on their own networks (for which they don't incur termination charges).



SilentCallsVictim wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2010 at 7:49am:

The important point to remember however, especially when making comparisons with the cost of calling revenue sharing numbers, is that the rates charged for normally inclusive calls are PENALTY rates imposed on those who select a call plan to cover one period and then make calls at another time. We must get away from the idea that these rates are the standard BT call charges - they are not.

One reason for the abolition of the BT Standard tariff was because when BT's competitors made comparisons, they did so with it and not BT's main tariffs, set-up to compete in the open market. (BT Standard was essentially the "pre-competition" tariff.)