Phone calls (UK)

I use Telewest (http://www.telewest.co.uk) to my phone supply line (and broadband). Their deal has got relatively poorer over time, and a couple of friends have been totally messed about by them. They accepted deposits for services they could not supply, and with one spending 3 hours in their home installing stuff only next day to say they wanted to come round and remove it because they could not supply service. They will not give compensation so there is no incentive for them to get there act togeather and have a system in place where the info about line available is know to them, in fact it is very much like double booking aircraft seats, they are relying on fact others will cancel service in same switch area.

But BT service is not much better with people been messed around as well. Also price regulation is to be removed from BT, which means actually they will try wipe out rivels by undercuting on certain headline prices.

For those that have phoneline from BT on can now switch line rental as well as calls to other companies, BT no longer has monopoly try The Phone Coop. So if one uses a BT reseller for line rental, calls (CPS) and broadband one is not as locked in as with Telewest cable. Though The Phone Coop is usefull for those on Cable/Telwest phone to get 4.7p capped under hour calls on an evening rather than default 3p/min on Telewest.

There are others that are probably cheaper using pre-dial numbers from a company called Connect Telecom UK Ltd (Finarea SA) under brandnames Phonecheap, 0844calls, Discountdial, Dialaround, Telediscount, Telesavers, Telestunt and others (note they offer different rates via each but rather than having to check out each one use a comparison site). For UK landline numbers at 0.5p per minute try 0844 205 05 05 or at 1p per minute 0844 861 21 21 or UK mobiles at 6p per minute try 0844 754 41 41. The disadvantage of this is that one gets charged for time the call ring even if not answered which is often the minimum charge. Also for some it may be an advantage and other a disadvantage that the number acually dialed does not show on an itemised the bill, which now-a-days can be downloaded and imported into a spreadsheet. One could even enforce use of these numbers for international and mobile calls by barring them which is free if you use the Phone Coop

Also the same Connect Telecom / Finarea SA is behind a slightly different method that is maybe more suitable for mobiles: 18185, TopUpDiscount and TeleTop, so more rates to compare but do take into account the costs call to London number to access, as well as there system. Also this method makes more even sense if one has an unlimited call package.

I still recommend you switch your line rental from BT to The Phone Coop (and apply for a share in The Phone Coop) but on either look at using these prefix numbers for each call where saves money which in most cases will.

Be carefull of going on quoted price with prepay services especially cards watch out for hidden costs such as connection fees, and also for expiry dates. Often one can get messed around with bad customer service especially if the company starts to fail. I ended up paying a lot more than led to believe in there adverts with SwiftCall so avoid them.

There are many providers of directory enquiries one of the cheapest is provided by the Phone Coop 118114, it shows the power of advertising that many people use the more expensive numbers advertised on TV

Also you can get internet access with these companies, but see another net access page.

To check what number a phone is connected to and on BT test if it rings, just dial 175

To find alternative number to ripoff 'national rate' number try www.saynoto0870.com