Ed wrote in message
news:8v1hm09cdr7l8utbjb5gnhvm77ti5vo4is@4ax.com...
> 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.
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.