Edited:


We live in Belgium.      
Until today, I had no idea about the 0870 nbrs but heard it on You and Yours (thank you Radio 4)!!
We have just received our phone bill - which had shot up horribly and now we know why!    We are paying mobile phone prices when we phone our daughter.
My question is, if she phones us does the same thing apply? What rates is she being charged? 
Also, is it cheaper for her to have a monthly bill or to use the credit card ?  I'm afraid we are somewhat ignorant of the British phone system - things have changed a lot since we used to live there.
DMD

I've just had a quick look, and can't find details of the phone system used at Manchester. Please supply the 0870 number, and if possible tell us who the service provider is. There are many different student residences in Manchester, so they may not all be on the same system.

What I did find out while looking is that all student bedrooms have connections to the campus network. Therefore my suggestion is to use a service such as Skype (www.skype.com) to make calls over the internet. Then you don't have to pay anything other than your usual internet costs.

I didn't realise that 0870 numbers cost more to call from abroad than standard numbers. Do the unversities realise this? It's bad enough for overseas students who are prevented from using cheap call providers on the phone in their room, without forcing their families to pay a premium to call them too.

Torch is a trading name of Kingston Communications, and the number is also very similar to Opal Court in Leicester, where the phone system is also run by Kingston. Hopefully we'll have similar success in Manchester!

If it's one of the 0161 1xx numbers, though, you might be out of luck...

Dear Dave
I checked those nbrs you gave me and followed your instructions - all were unobtainable except for the 615 - a voice came on warning me it was a premium line and charges would show on my bill and then it was straight into a sex chat line I put the phone down double quick!
Then I looked up the main Hall of residence nbr which is 0161 -224****  Is that of any help? 
I tried looking at the Excel spreadsheet from Ofcom which you suggested but I'm afraid I don't actually understand what I am looking at or what I am supposed to be looking for.  Sorry to be so thick - I couldn't really make head nor tail of it. 
My daughter confirms the phone company IS Kingston Communications and she is in the process of querying outgoing call prices - though she thinks they are normal.
But my husband and I are very interested in the SkypeOut facility that Jonathan mentioned and it looks like we may well go for that.
Thx a lot for all the interest shown in our query - we much appreciate that there is somebody out there who is concerned about these things. 
DMD

More numbers to try... these were allocated to Kingston last month, so probably too late to be in use at the university. But you never know!

0161 135
0161 144
0161 822


A useful site is http://www.ukphoneinfo.com. (Go to "code locator") This contains the data from the Ofcom spreadsheet, but is more user-friendly, and is kept up to date!

(I'm duplicating my posting from another Manchester/UMIST question)

When I was a student there, all UMIST extensions (including payphones in student accommodation) were 0161 200 xxxx. They have built many new halls since I left, but these applied to Wright Robinson, Chandos, Grosvenor, Bowden and Ronson in the immediate area of the UMIST campus, plus a few others further out from the centre.

Even if all student rooms have their own phone nowadays, I can't see that they would have used all 9999 possible numbers yet, so there would be no pressing need to change (apart from the offer of some fancy bit of supposedly free kit from a supplier of 0870 numbers!)

Manchester University was less uniform, but many of its central functions and some student halls were 0161 275 xxxx. Many of the Fallowfield halls and sports facilities were 0161 224 xxxx

Unfortunately I don't know whether their phone systems have changed since I last spoke to anyone there (2002), but these may be worth a try. I have obtained answerphones this evening on some UMIST 0161 200 xxxx numbers which I still possess.

Graham

There have been lots of postings about the obligation of public bodies to disclose their geographic phone numbers underlying their 0870 numbers under the FOI Act.

Does anyone know of a precedent where a public body has actually done so?

Very interested to read this thread; we were horrified last week to find an 0870 telephone in son's room at Hall in Manchester. The cynicism!
Have discovered that one can be put through to the room using the geographical telephone number for the Hall's office (you can find the relevant number by going to www.accommodation.manchester.ac.uk/universityresidences/ and following the links to the relevant hall) - certainly works for the Grosvenor group of Halls (0161 306 3232) .
When I spoke to the office the person who answered told me 'I am not allowed to give you the number (sic), but I can put you through. ' and did so.