Sorry but as with many of these, the old numbers were long established. They will probably have changed the internet management company as happened with Virgin.net some time ago.

I'm sorry but you'll just have to bite the bullet, as I will also have to do to retain my Mailbox with them.
Even though I'm on Broadband, I still have to dial in once a month to keep my alternate emails live.

Dam*, $od, ßugger, þoo & other unmentionables !! I really don't need this hassle again  !

MarkJTAllen wrote on Jan 13^th, 2006 at 11:30am:

This is for pay as you go internet dial-up service? How do you pay for the service, other than through 0845 telephone calls? 

MarkJTAllen wrote on Jan 13^th, 2006 at 2:11pm:

But it is 0845/0844 dial-up numbers that pay for the internet service. The high volume of calls going through those numbers will allow ISPs to receive revenue on them.

MarkJTAllen wrote on Jan 13^th, 2006 at 3:03pm:

There are a wide variety of telcos out there providing non-geographical numbers (NGNs, ie 0845/0844/0870 etc). They all [can] provide the same benefits, the difference being cost. If you search the internet you will find many suppliers out there, some who provide 0845 numbers at no extra cost. No extra cost to the receiver, that is. The caller pays extra and some of that call charge goes to the NGN telco.

So you can see that your call charges subsidise this routing service. I suppose those companies who pay to receive calls are getting a worse deal than those who don't on the same prefix. But then again, the facilities that the NGN provides may be different. You pays your money (or not, as the case may be) and you takes your choice.

NGN telcos can share some of those call charges with the company being called. 0870 is simply a higher priced version of 0845, thus you are more likely to find that companies don't have to pay for it [themselves], and often receive revenue payments. As an example, have a look at UK2Numbers' revenue payments for 0870 here. You will see that the more calls to the NGN, the more they will revenue share.

MarkJTAllen wrote on Jan 13^th, 2006 at 3:03pm:

Generally speaking, the higher volume of calls through a number, the more revenue NGN telcos share with their customers (ie the company being called), as in the example above. The volume of calls is obviously very high with dial-up internet services, especially compared to voice services (call centres). So they can get paid for getting calls coming through their 0845 numbers.

Well done that man! I just did a retry using the old connection and b*gger me it worked!!!

What the hell was all that about then?

I did wonder having reconnected whether they perhaps have a spread of geo numbers hiding behind the 0845. My company used to have a dial-back server for reps and others off-site, and that had about 10 lines to call in on; mind you it also had an auto-switch to move you if you dialled in on a line in use.

Strange.....