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Phoning all your relatives over Christmas can cost a fortune.
But a new service launched this month by Oftel, the telephone
regulator, may help you cut down the bills.
Although there are numerous alternatives to BT, opaque pricing
and difficulties in comparing costs has discouraged users from
switching to the competition. In fact, 80 per cent of households
have stuck with the old monopoly even though they could be getting
a better deal elsewhere.
However, the service from Oftel aims to encourage us to shop
around for cheaper calls by helping users to compare prices.
All you need to do is answer a series of questions about the
frequency of your telephone calls, such as how many calls are
local or international and how often you make calls to mobile
phones or surf the Internet.
A comparison table is then drawn up, listing the deals and
prices offered by five of the UK's leading phone operators
- BT, Cable & Wireless, Eurobell, NTL and Telewest. Users
can access the Oftel service by telephone on 0870 6007288 or
through the Internet at www.phonebills.org.uk.
There are three main types of phone company to choose from
- BT, cable companies and indirect operators - although your
choice of cable company is restricted, depending on where you
live. There is only ever one cable operator in each area competing
with BT.
Cable is available to more than 12 million homes, mainly in
towns and cities and nearly four million households take advantage
of the connection to make telephone calls. However, if you want
to take advantage of rock bottom rates for overseas calls, indirect
operators may offer a better deal.
There are about 250 companies offering an "indirect"
service, where you continue to pay the line rental to BT but
dial a special code before making a call to gain access to the
company's cheaper rates.
Although BT offers several discount packages for overseas calls,
these deals are not free and some of the indirect providers
can halve the cost of an overseas call made on an ordinary BT
tariff (see table).
BT customers can cut the cost of calls by mixing and matching
different discount deals, such as Friends and Family and
Premier Line, but the lower tariffs come at a cost. Subscribers
to Premier Line get 15 per cent off their calls but are charged
? a quarter.
Many of the indirect providers levy no extra fees and change
a flat rate. Many providers will require you to set-up an account
and paying advance, while others will send you a monthly bill.
Some, such as First Telecom, offer both options, although pre-paid
calls are cheaper.
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