SAYNOTO0870.COM - Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customers

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Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customers
Sep 18^th, 2006 at 4:24pm

Edited:

This thread is out of date and no longer maintained due to the constantly changing market of landline providers and call charges.

Last Updated: 20/10/06

Below is a list of cheap call providers for those on a Cable landline.

The below list may not be the absolute cheapest available as prices can vary at any time but are considered to be the safest (due to varying prices) and offer ease of use at the time this post was updated (see top of post). For example, there may be some dial-through operators that are slightly cheaper but this, in most cases, involves dialling a full 0844/0871 number and then dialling the number you are after in full international format. Also any calls made via dial-through operators access numbers are charged for as soon as you finish dialling the appropriate 0844/0871 dial-through access number.

General Advice

For those outside their minimum term contract for their cable linerental it is recommended to move linerental to BT. With a BT landline you have a choice of many, many suppliers all cheaper than your current cable supplier and the prices mentioned below. See Cheap Call Providers for BT Customers for an idea of how cheaper your call costs and plans can become.

If your dwelling has never had BT before then BT currently charge £125 installation fee but if your dwelling has had BT before then installation maybe free. The £125 (if applicable) is a lot of money but over the long term it works out cheaper than via Cable and their expensive prices/plans.

Please see this MSE thread, or alternatively, BT's webpage here.

Remember that legally only BT have to allow access to the many other cheaper call providers. Cable, unfortunately, don't.

Line Rental Plan

It is recommended that you ensure you are on the bare minimum tariff which is generally known as Talk Weekends on TeleWest & Talk Weekends on NTL for which the current cost is £11 per month when paying by Direct Debit, £15 per month when paying via other methods.

Cheapest Options for those without an all-inclusive tariff plan:

Daytime, Evening & Weekend times

Daytime:	6am - 6pm Monday to Friday
Evening:	6pm - 6am Monday to Friday
Weekend:	All day Saturday & Sunday

Geographical Calls (those beginning 01 or 02)

Daytime:	1p/min with 4p connection fee (via Call18185^**)
Evening:	1p/min with 4p connection fee (via Call18185^**)
Weekend:	Free upto 60min (via Cable provider)

0845/0870 Calls

Always try the database here first, otherwise:-

	0845	0870
Daytime:	3p/min (via Call18185^**)	4p/min (via Call18185^**)
Evening:	3p/min (via Call18185^**)	4p/min (via Call18185^**)
Weekend:	1/min (via Call18185^**)	2p/min (via Call18185^**)

077x, 078x, 079x (Mobile) Calls

Daytime:	10p/min (via Call18185^**)
Evening:	10p/min (via Call18185^**)
Weekend:	2p/min (via Call18185^**)

Please note that Call18185 has a 4p connection fee which is still less than your current cable supplier who charge a 6p connection fee.

For more information and possibly slightly cheaper calls then please use Money Saving Expert's (MSE) UK Call Checker, SayNoTo0870's Cheapest Call Providers and I also recommend reading MSE Martin's UKs Cheapest Home Phone Calls Provider article.

International Calls:

Please see MSE [url=http://callchecker.moneysavingexpert.com/intcallchecker/]International

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« Last Edit: Aug 25^th, 2010 at 7:40pm by bbb_uk »

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Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer
Reply #1 - Sep 18^th, 2006 at 6:14pm

Ease of use with an Orchid Dialler

An Orchid Dialler by Orchid Electronics allows you to pre-programme the box so calls are automatically routed via your choosen provider depending on type of number, and time of day (eg Daytime, evening & weekends). The Orchid Dialler can also be set to bar certain types of calls that you choose like personal numbers beginning 070, premium rate 09x numbers, etc. It costs £14.99 and if you order online here and enter the discount code as mentioned in this thread when prompted.

Orchid Electronics offer free initial setup if requested at time of ordering (see here). To aid Orchid Electronics, below is the normal settings for each cheap call provider options mentioned on previous post:

Option 1 (for those without an all-inclusive plan)

	Daytime	Evening	Weekends
Geographical Calls:	Call18185 (via 0808 number)	Call18185 (via 0808 number)	No routing (via Cable provider)
0845/0870 Calls:	Call18185 (via 0808 number)	Call18185 (via 0808 number)	Call18185 (via 0808 number)
Mobile Calls:	Call18185 (via 0808 number)	Call18185 (via 0808 number)	Call18185 (via 0808 number)

Remember to choose your own individual settings for things like premium rate and international numbers, etc.

Now if you're happy with these settings simply email orchid and provide them with a link to this page and ask them could they programme your dialler as mentioned in option number 1 and any other routing you would like programmed into the dialler as well.

Notes

^** These companies are known as override providers. For those with a Cable landline then you can benefit from their rates instead of your current Cable rates by dialling a freephone 0808 number (or alternatively using an Orchid dialler as mentioned above). These companies are a no obligation, with no monthly subscription charge and also don't have any minimum term contracts. These companies are commonly known as a no-frills company with a lack of customer services via telephone (online only) and sometimes the call quality may not be as good as your Cable provider. You continue at all times to have incoming calls handled by your Cable provider and continue to keep your existing Cable number. Please note that Call18185 has a 4p connection fee which is still less than your current cable provider who charge a 6p connection fee and both charge per minute, rounded up to nearest whole penny.

Thanks:

Thanks to Heinz for his post here (the idea behind this) and to the MSE Team and other Forum members for spotting these and other good deals/special offers.

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« Last Edit: Oct 20^th, 2006 at 5:11pm by bbb_uk »

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bbb_uk Global Moderator Offline Posts: 2,041	Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer Reply #2 - Sep 18^th, 2006 at 6:15pm Reserved for future use
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orsonkart

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Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer
Reply #3 - Sep 18^th, 2006 at 10:34pm

In the case of evening calls to 01/02 numbers www.phone.coop who supply an autodialer with 0800 access will on their home user tariiff charge cable customers just 4.7p for up to 60 minutes.It would not be a problem in putting their access number in your Orchid Dialler.

Eg : A 15 minute call on 1899 would cost 18p. The same call with the phone coop costs 4.7p.

Their Evening Mobile Rate at 9.3p (apart from 3) is slightly cheaper then 18185. Plus their NGN rates in the evening are cheaper 0845 1p a minute and 0870 3.95p a minute .

An added bonus is that they operate second billing,with no connection charge.Min call charge is 4.7p. It probaly means that 0845 will be cheaper via them at weekend as well.

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« Last Edit: Sep 18^th, 2006 at 10:58pm by N/A »

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Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer
Reply #4 - Oct 20^th, 2006 at 5:12pm

As pointed out by acezing in this thread and as mentioned on MSE, Call1899 are increasing their connection fee from 3p to 4p.

Due to this, I've now amended the Cheapest Call Providers thread accordingly and removed Call1899 and replaced it with Call18185 as they both charge 4p connection fee but Call18185 is cheaper on other type of calls like 0845/0870, etc compared to Call1899.

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AJR

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Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer
Reply #5 - Nov 2^nd, 2006 at 11:32am

It's worth noting that Telewest may be interested in encouraging you to stay with them by offering discounts. I had decided to follow the advice above and switch my line to BT. However, when I called Telewest to give notice they offered me half price line rental and half price TalkUnlimited for three months, plus £8 a month off my broadband connection for six months. So I've decided to stay with them for a while longer.

Obviously, whether they want or are allowed to do this will depend on the individual situation. For example, I had actually signed up with BT and had a contract number, which I subsequently cancelled.

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Heinz

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Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer
Reply #6 - Nov 2^nd, 2006 at 12:31pm

AJR wrote on Nov 2^nd, 2006 at 11:32am:

It's worth noting that Telewest may be interested in encouraging you to stay with them by offering discounts. I had decided to follow the advice above and switch my line to BT. However, when I called Telewest to give notice they offered me half price line rental and half price TalkUnlimited for three months, plus £8 a month off my broadband connection for six months. So I've decided to stay with them for a while longer.

But why should each customer have to do that every 3 or 6 months?

They offer short-term discounts to retain customers in the hope that, when they put the prices up again later, some customers won't remember to call again.

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« Last Edit: Nov 2^nd, 2006 at 12:31pm by Heinz »

After years of ignoring govt. guidelines & RIPPING OFF Council Tax payers using 0845 numbers, Essex County Council changed to 0345 numbers on 2 November 2015

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Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer
Reply #7 - Nov 2^nd, 2006 at 10:08pm

Yes, NTL/TW may well do offers when you threaten to leave (via their retentions department) but like Heinz pointed out, why should you keep having to do this every 3 or 6 months?

If NTL/TW were remotely competitive in the first place then they wouldn't need to offer such discounts, etc for those threatening to leave.

I guess, from NTL/TW point of view, that for those so many percent of customers that they do have to provide offers for to get them to stay, the many more customers they have end up paying well over the odds.

How many landline providers are more expensive than BT for most (if not all) things?

Answers on a postcard addressed to, "Yes that's right - just US, NTL House, Bartley Wood Business Park,
Bartley Way, Hook, Hampshire, RG27 9UP..."
Smiley

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« Last Edit: Nov 2^nd, 2006 at 10:10pm by bbb_uk »

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Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer
Reply #8 - Dec 12^th, 2006 at 10:21pm

NTL/TW have announced price changes effective from February or May next year.

See this thread.

For telephone, NTL/TW's all-inclusive plan is being reduced by 50p to £14 (not including linerental). Compare that to the options available for those lucky enough to have a BT landline (see here).

I strongly recommend those that have their telephone with NTL/TW is to move to BT and take advantage of the many, many other cheaper providers (even BT are cheaper than NTL/TW).

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« Last Edit: Dec 12^th, 2006 at 10:27pm by bbb_uk »

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AJR

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Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer
Reply #9 - Jan 19^th, 2007 at 11:25am

Heinz wrote on Nov 2^nd, 2006 at 12:31pm:

But why should each customer have to do that every 3 or 6 months?

My three months of discount was up, so I went back to them before taking out a BT contract. This time they renewed the deal for a further year.

That's 15 months of line rental and Talk Unlimited (free 01 and 02 calls at all times) for £12.75. Plus unlimited 2Mb broadband for £9.99. I'd really like to switch to BT just for the free caller display and easy access to other providers. But for the moment I can't justify it financially, particularly now that 18185 and 1899 have raised connection charges to 5p.

I reckon the saving is around £200 over the total period, which is not a bad deal for a 10 minute phone call.

I'm sure it makes sense to stay with BT if you're already connected. But if you're a Telewest subscriber, before taking out a BT contract it might be worth giving Telewest a call to check whether they will make it worth your while to stay with them for a while longer. Just make sure you don't use Telewest to call 0870/0845 numbers, as they recently raised prices for daytime 0870 numbers to 10p per minute.

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JoeCurry Newbie Offline Posts: 29 Gender:	Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer Reply #10 - Mar 26^th, 2009 at 10:20pm One must also consider web based http://www.jajah.com ; calls to North America are free if your recipient is also a member.. Well worth topping-up every six weeks..give it a look and debate?
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nijjhar Newbie Offline ATOMIC WAR 2012 - Watch my Youtube Videos Posts: 1 Reading, England, U.K. Gender:	Re: Cheap Call Providers - Cable Landline Customer Reply #11 - May 10^th, 2009 at 8:58am Hi, It is very useful site and I appreciate the efforts.
Back to top	Rajinder Nijjhar, M.Sc.&&Retired Lecturer in Metallurgy,&&Holy spirit = spirit of Man = Common sense&&Holy Spirit = Spirit of God = Extra Ordinary Sense.&&No holy spirit, common sense, no Gospel but letters. IP Logged