On 1st October 2010 BT and other providers such as TalkTalk increased their call charge rates again.
The new rates for peak time calls are:
- Local & national: 6.4p per minute
- Mobile: 12.5p per minute
In addition to increases in call rates, there has also been an increase in the call set-up fee to 10.9p. The call set-up fee applies as soon as your call is connected.
It is also not widely appreciated that BT operate on a per minute billing system. In other words if a call lasts only 20 seconds a charge for a full minute applies.
This makes calling mobile phones particularly expensive. For example, a 20 second call to a mobile phone would cost 23.4p.
This a significant overhead for businesses such as taxi firms that have many mobile workers who need to keep in touch with the office.
BT have calling plans that can mitigate the prices rises in exchange for customers signing long term contracts and paying additional monthly charges.
However, there are other solutions which offer greater savings. For example, it is possible to get the cost of that 20 second mobile phone call down to 1.6p by choosing the right provider and package.
Unfortunately there is no general advice that can be given on reducing call charges as the solution depends on the volume of calls, the type of calls, available services, equipment capability etc.
Some solutions that we have recommended to our customers include:
- switching to a cheaper pacakge;
- switching to an alternative provider;
- using VoIP; and
- installing equipment such as mobile gateways.
There are many other possibilities.
Please contact Premitel using the contact form below if you want us to help you reduce your phone bills.
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