Free unlimited calls between 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday to 17 Intl destinations via a 03 access number if your using your inclusive minutes.

See: http://www.dial123.co.uk/freecalls/

Q. "I don’t have inclusive minutes can I still dial the access number .
A. Yes, but a UK standard landline rate applies and the call will not be Free.

Can anyone confirm that calls to 01/02/03 "indirect access numbers" are indeed covered by inclusive call plans?

Some quick research suggests that BT only excludes 0845 and 0870 "indirect access numbers".

If they were to be excluded on 03, they would have to be excluded on 01/02 also, and even then the fine print of the 03 regulations may have to be amended.


Can anyone confirm that "the catch" (although there is said to be none) is that the capacity of this service is limited?

My understanding is that services such as these operate on the same principle as the "bucket shop", but I am ready to be corrected.

Do you think I would have mentioned it if they were not included,and bothered to post a number of previous posts relating to other suppliers who provide 01/02/03 geographical access numbers to some Intl destinations, to help members save money.

Mobile Suppliers ban access to certain 07 access numbers but I have never seen them exclude 01/02/03 numbers.

bigjohn wrote on Jun 20^th, 2013 at 9:29am:

Do you think I would have mentioned it if they were not included

Apologies for doubting the thoroughness which some put into researching these matters, as against the admitted brevity of that which I put in on this occasion.

Perhaps someone could help by explaining how this statement from the BT website is untrue.


Quote:

Your free calls don't include calls to mobiles, premium rate, international, 0844, 0871, indirect access, operator, directory enquiries, and calls to the Channel Islands

This contradicts my earlier suggestion that the BT prohibition only applies to 0845 and 0870, and is the result of further research. I regret that I do not have the time to check out every provider or to myself discover why BT is making allegedly false statements about its terms of service. I hope to see an authoritative assurance and explanation from those who already have the relevant expertise. (At the very least, it would be good to have a sound basis from which to complain to BT about false statements on its website.)

If there is an opportunity for members to save money, then this is great, although they may need to be aware that the opportunity may be limited. If someone can assure us that there are no such limits, then there is a very serious issue of market failure to address.

SilentCallsVictim wrote on Jun 20^th, 2013 at 12:09pm:

Perhaps someone could help by explaining how this statement from the BT website is untrue. Quote: Your free calls don't include calls to mobiles, premium rate, international, 0844, 0871, indirect access, operator, directory enquiries, and calls to the Channel Islands

I think that the reference to "indirect access" here refers to "indirect access codes" which begin with 1, such as 18185. It does, after all, appear in the quoted sentence before operator and directory enquiries, which are also on codes that start with 1.

It is also worth noting that all the types of calls mentioned here have their own number ranges, assuming "indirect access" means codes that start with 1. That is, it isn't talking about individual numbers that are anomalies within a range that is otherwise inclusive.


As for the question of whether the 03 dial-through service referred to in the OP is included in packages, it is obviously down to each originating operator to decide whether to exclude it or not, if indeed the regulations allow.

We know that BT excludes geographic dial-up ISP numbers, presumably where they have been identified as such. I wonder whether it, and other call providers, would be allowed to do likewise with 03 dial-up ISP numbers.

It may also be more difficult for originating providers to identify 01/02/03 dial-through numbers (than ISP numbers) so as to exclude them from packages. For that reason dial-through numbers may not automatically be excluded, even if a provider had a general policy of doing so. Basically some may be underneath its radar.