News - BT announces free calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers

[HEXUS]

BT says no to 0870 by offering free calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers.

Read more.

[Vadim]

thats great news!

[geezerone]

See below

[cptwhite_uk]

www.saynoto0870.com

www.18185.com

Step 1:
Register with 18185 (BT customers only, I believe)

Step 2:
Type the number 0870 or 0845 number you're looking for into www.saynoto0870.com

Step 3:
Dial 18185, then the geographical equivalent of the 0870 number you wish to dial.

This will result in a connection charge of 4p, and 0p per minute per call for all applicable 0870 and 0845 number, anytime of the day.

Step 4:
Enjoy the savings on your phone bill. This works for landlines only, 18185 can save you money on all calls you make from a landline

Legal bit:
I'm not affiliated with either BT, saynoto0870 or 18185.

Thank you for listening.

[TiG]

This is also complete laugh. If you know how much money BT made from running 0870 and 0845 numbers and reselling them to people you would laugh.

I would dare say the services I run (which are free to subscribers) but gives us a kick back to us for running the lines as part of our commercial agreement with our customers would probably make BT more than 16Million a year.

We're one company. This BT announcement really doesn't highlight anything important but a cunning attempt to make a change based on big headlines and little true detail.

TiG

[Hicks12]

Did anyone notice that its only free after 6pm weekdays and all day on weekends?. How often are businesses open after 5/5:30? Not many, weekend gives you a few hours gap to call so not really free.

Its a step in the right direction though...

[geezerone]

Up to 1000 mins free (150 calls per month)

[hibby]

More details here.

For a lot of people this is a bonus to a package they already get. I doubt there will be many adding the option just for the 0870 and 0845 calls.

[geezerone]

My mistake - the £4.85 is for Anytime Package. So yes it is a good move BUT the caveat is:

"...You can make up to 1000 minutes of free calls a month. There's also a limit of 150 calls a month. If you exceed these limits you'll automatically be charged the standard BT call rates...."

Also:

"...Please note that we're still going to charge for calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers used for dial-up Internet or international indirect access. We're also still charging for calls to numbers starting with 0871 and 0844...."

How would you know if you are calling an international number if it is stated as 0870 e.g. an Indian call-centre?

[tickedon]

www.saynoto0870.com

www.18185.com

Step 1:
Register with 18185 (BT customers only, I believe)

Step 2:
Type the number 0870 or 0845 number you're looking for into www.saynoto0870.com

Step 3:
Dial 18185, then the geographical equivalent of the 0870 number you wish to dial.

This will result in a connection charge of 4p, and 0p per minute per call for all applicable 0870 and 0845 number, anytime of the day.

Step 4:
Enjoy the savings on your phone bill. This works for landlines only, 18185 can save you money on all calls you make from a landline

Legal bit:
I'm not affiliated with either BT, saynoto0870 or 18185.

Thank you for listening.

Maybe I'm missing something, but, I get free geographical calls on my BT line and mobile - so why would I pay 18185 4p connection charge to do the same thing?

I assume it must be for people who don't get free geographical number calls?

[tickedon]

"...Please note that we're still going to charge for calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers used for dial-up Internet or international indirect access. We're also still charging for calls to numbers starting with 0871 and 0844...."

How would you know if you are calling an international number if it is stated as 0870 e.g. an Indian call-centre?

I believe the "international indirect access" refers to numbers which you dial and then dial an international number from - i.e. let you dial numbers in Europe, USA, Asia etc.. for the price of the national call.

It shouldn't apply to the 0870/0845 numbers which belong to a single company and then divert you to a call centre elsewhere.