NGMsGhost wrote on Jun 30^th, 2008 at 10:03am:

No. They are free as they always have been. See this post I made the other day explaining this.

NGMsGhost wrote on Jun 30^th, 2008 at 11:15am:

If you follow the link to BT Price List Payphone rates you will see that 0800 and other freephone numbers are free to the caller.

The quote above in this thread relates to service providers who operate 0800 numbers. It is they who "may" be charged.

NGMsGhost wrote on Jun 30^th, 2008 at 11:42am:

I understand Ofcom terminology to refer to three parties: OCP, TCP and SP.

1. The Originating Communications Provider is that on whose network the call is originated.

2. The Terminating Communications Provider is that on whose network the call is terminated.

3. The Service Provider is the organisation whose services are accessed by the call.

These terms are used when revenue sharing is involved.

The SP is a customer of the TCP. The caller is a customer of the OCP and the SP.

Where the service is designated as a "premium rate service" the SP becomes a communications service provider and thereby falls within the scope of Ofcom's regulatory powers (subcontracted to PhonePay Plus).

With 0800 numbers called from phone boxes, the supplementary charges may make the SP a customer of the OCP.

Please correct me if I have this wrong, although I make this posting with some confidence.

I am sure that calls to 0800 from a phone box are always free to the calling party. However, in my experience, some 0800 numbers which work from a residential line, give unobtainable from a phone box. I guess this is because the called party has to pay a hefty charge per minute for calls received from a phone box, and Dave's postings seem to confirm that. Likewise, prepayment cards allow fewer minutes if you use them from a phone box (assuming they work at all).

NGMsGhost wrote on Jun 27^th, 2008 at 9:33pm:


I have web n walk on my mobile contract so I can hook it up to my computer as a modem - all internet usage is included in my contract and there are no limits on how much I use it.

Yep, I hear you about phone boxes but you are missing the point. 0800 numbers are great, but it is in everybody's best interests, business and consumers alike, if a geographical number is also listed as an alternative. This would not cost or hinder anybody - business would actually save money when people use the geographical number and consumers would save money if calling from a mobile. Its a case of having choice.