Your GPsurgery are idiots, although I have been given the same advice before now with other orgnaisations. For most countries the 08 numbers work, but you just can't be sure. If it isn't going to work for 0845 it isn't going to work for 0870 either.

Tell them thast most organisations provide a geographic number for overseas. Tell them that you can not call any 08xx number from some countries.

mikeinnc wrote on Oct 10^th, 2007 at 8:47pm:
And, for example,

Globe7, a VOIP provider:

http://globe7.com/rateplan.php?code=U

Rate Plan US$/min

UK  44 0.0100
UK - Local 0844  44844 0.1595
UK - Local 0845  44845 0.1595
UK - National 0870  44870 1.7050

Perhaps the 870 rate is a misprint, perhaps not.

mikeinnc wrote on Oct 15^th, 2007 at 4:58pm:
My first thought was that this was a case of the decimal point in the wrong place, however I don't have any real inclination to try it out! I agree it probably is 17.05c/min. Interestingly, 0871 is actually quoted at a cheaper rate:

UK - National 0871  44871 1.6720

I cannot believe that the true rate here would be 0.16720c/min as that would be a loss to the originating telco.

Have you also noticed that on full price lists for foreign telcos, the United Kingdom always seems to have the longest list of numbering price points?

In any literature I receive from AT&T, Vonage, Verizon etc, the international rates to the United Kingdom always have a small asterisk which points out that the rates quoted are only for landline numbers, and that calls to 'other services' are charged differently.

I'm sure that the UK must now be #1 on the list for telephone fraud.

Ofcom and ICSTIS or whatever its new daft name is must be very proud of their achievemnets.

...

In addition to its existing activities, PhonepayPlus will be offering a full range of support initiatives for
consumers and the industry over the coming months:
• www.phonepayplus.org.uk will be revamped to make it easier for both the public and the industry
to find the information they want.
• www.phonebrain.org.uk, PhonepayPlus’ successful, interactive children’s website, will be refreshed
and promoted throughout the UK.
• A new leaflet, helping consumers to understand how phone-paid services work, how to recognise them
and what to look out for, has been published and will be distributed throughout the UK. Copies of the
leaflet can be downloaded at www.phonepayplus.org.uk/publications/consumer_publications.asp.
• A new SMS text service will be launched to allow the public to report problems at their convenience
using their mobile phones.
• A programme of ongoing, active collaboration with other regulators and relevant protection bodies will
begin. Consumers need to know where to go with a problem and need to be properly advised about
who will be dealing with their issue. Material has already been produced to help phone network
customer service departments deal efficiently with their customers.
• A specialist Compliance Team has been set up to advise all those who provide phone-paid services to
ensure that services comply with the regulator’s rules from the outset.
Please see www.phonepayplus.org.uk for further information about PhonepayPlus.
For further information, please contact:
Rob Dwight (020 7940 7408) or Sarah Icken (020 7940 7415) at the PhonepayPlus Media Office
Dominic Shales (020 7404 6691) or Jonathan Hooley (020 7404 6691) at Paratus Communications

NOTES TO EDITORS
• About the research All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 4,044 adults.
Fieldwork was undertaken between 2 and 5 October 2007. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been
weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
• Phone-paid services offer some form of content that is charged to your phone bill or mobile pre-pay account. The
money paid by users for services is shared between the telephone company carrying the service and the
organisation(s) providing the content.
•
PhonepayPlus regulates the content, promotion and overall operation of services through its Code of Practice. It
investigates complaints, and has the power to fine companies and close down and/or bar access to services if the
Code is breached. It can also bar the individual(s) behind a company from running any other services under any
company name on any telephone network for a defined period.
• Services can be accessed by landline or mobile phone, fax, interactive TV (for example, by using the red button on the
remote control) and PC (for example, in e-mails or on the internet).
•
Most services are advertised on either 09 dialling codes or, in the case of text services, four or five-digit short code
numbers followed by a descriptive key word (for example, 11111 VOTE). Services offering adult entertainment must
only be advertised on 0908, 0909 or 098 numbers and on mobile short code numbers beginning 69 or 89. Directory
enquiry services are advertised on six-digit numbers beginning 118. From early 2008, we will also regulate all services
offered on 0871 numbers.
• Calls vary in cost depending on the type of service you use and the way in which you access it (for example, landline
or mobile phone). Calls to 09 numbers from landlines vary in cost from 10 pence per call to £1.50 per minute (plus any
network set-up fees). Calls to 0871 numbers cost up to 10 pence per minute from landlines.
• Calls to 09 or 118 numbers from mobiles will vary in cost depending on your phone network. However, they will
generally cost more than the advertised landline rate. Calls to 0871 numbers cost up to 35 pence per minute from
mobiles. Text services on mobiles (for example, TV voting) will be charged at a fixed rate (for example, 25 pence per
text) plus your usual standard network charge.
• Many text services (for example, football goal alerts) work on a ‘reverse-billed’ basis, where you will be charged for
receiving texts rather than paying to send them. Typical costs for a single text message received range from 25p to
£1.50. If the service is subscription-based, companies offering these services must make this clear to you, as well as
the cost per text, how many texts will be received and how you can end the service by sending the word STOP.

[end]