TELECOM 247

> As a long time 18866 user I phoned the USA tonight expecting to be
> told it was 1p a minute. Instead I got the message that it was 2p a
> minute, and the same when I called a mobile in the States.
>
> Checked the website and it said 2p for landlines in the States and the
> box was blank for mobiles.
>
> Is this the beginning of the end for unbelievably cheap phonecalls on
> 18866? I know that you can get 1/2p a minute to US landlines with
> 1899 but I think the companies are related so is that going to come to
> an end too? 1/2p a minute must be well below cost.

> As a long time 18866 user I phoned the USA tonight expecting to be
> told it was 1p a minute. Instead I got the message that it was 2p a
> minute, and the same when I called a mobile in the States.
>
> Checked the website and it said 2p for landlines in the States and the
> box was blank for mobiles.
>
> Is this the beginning of the end for unbelievably cheap phonecalls on
> 18866? I know that you can get 1/2p a minute to US landlines with
> 1899 but I think the companies are related so is that going to come to
> an end too? 1/2p a minute must be well below cost.

>
>Ed wrote in message
>news:8b3484b4.0410091342.103d143d@posting.google.com...
>> As a long time 18866 user I phoned the USA tonight expecting to be
>> told it was 1p a minute. Instead I got the message that it was 2p a
>> minute, and the same when I called a mobile in the States.
>>
>> Checked the website and it said 2p for landlines in the States and the
>> box was blank for mobiles.
>>
>> Is this the beginning of the end for unbelievably cheap phonecalls on
>> 18866? I know that you can get 1/2p a minute to US landlines with
>> 1899 but I think the companies are related so is that going to come to
>> an end too? 1/2p a minute must be well below cost.
>
>I think the prices will go up and down often, as they buy in bulk the
>capicity, now if the available capicity to buy in is lower, then the cost will
>be higher.
>

> On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 00:06:38 +0100, {{{{Welcome}}}}
> wrote:
>
> >
> >Ed wrote in message
> >news:8b3484b4.0410091342.103d143d@posting.google.com...
> >> As a long time 18866 user I phoned the USA tonight expecting to be
> >> told it was 1p a minute. Instead I got the message that it was 2p a
> >> minute, and the same when I called a mobile in the States.
> >>
> >> Checked the website and it said 2p for landlines in the States and the
> >> box was blank for mobiles.
> >>
> >> Is this the beginning of the end for unbelievably cheap phonecalls on
> >> 18866? I know that you can get 1/2p a minute to US landlines with
> >> 1899 but I think the companies are related so is that going to come to
> >> an end too? 1/2p a minute must be well below cost.
> >
> >I think the prices will go up and down often, as they buy in bulk the
> >capicity, now if the available capicity to buy in is lower, then the cost
will
> >be higher.
> >
> I think that 1p a minute to call a mobile in the States must be below
> cost price. I dont think you could phone a mobile that cheaply if
> you lived in the country. What I worry is that having gained the
> customers 18866 may start to increase their call prices so that they
> are not making losses on quite so many calls. I mean 1p for a UK
> landline call for however long you call is great, but it cannot last.

> Is this the beginning of the end for unbelievably cheap phonecalls on
> 18866?

>
>Dont forget that in the states it costs the same to call a landline as it
>does to call a mobile, because it is the recipient mobile users that picks up
>the cost of receiving the call, like we do if we are roaming.
>
>This is why many Americans still rely heavily on pagers.
>

> As a long time 18866 user I phoned the USA tonight expecting to be
> told it was 1p a minute. Instead I got the message that it was 2p a
> minute, and the same when I called a mobile in the States.
>
> Checked the website and it said 2p for landlines in the States and the
> box was blank for mobiles.
>
> Is this the beginning of the end for unbelievably cheap phonecalls on
> 18866? I know that you can get 1/2p a minute to US landlines with
> 1899 but I think the companies are related so is that going to come to
> an end too? 1/2p a minute must be well below cost.