Can anybody tell me why some companies give geographic numbers for access from abroad?

I recently found a company that gives its 0845 number if you want to phone them from abroad.

Quote:


Uninformed jobsworth is right- it often does. Non-geo UK numbers often incur a premium when dialled from outside the UK- assuming it's accessible at all. Calling +44 870 and +44 845 is bad enough- +44 70xx is astronomical.

When I phone a US 'toll-free' number '001 800...' I get a warning telling me it's not toll-free, but I still get through, and it doesn't cost me more than any other call to the US.

BTW, using Free World Dialup, I can phone US toll-free numbers for free via my broadband connection, and people outside the UK can call freephone numbers as 44 800 - for free- as well.