Site History from 1996
Version 164 in late January 2012 adds DTC Direct (residential) and Redbox (residential), and updates Budgetcom (residential), Cheap Calling (residential), Dial Around (residential), DialWise (residential), Discount Dial (residential), Phone Co-Op (business and residential) and TalkTalk (residential). Alpha Telecom (bought in 2010 by Onyx Innovation UK Ltd) ceased trading in January 2012 and will shortly be placed into liquidation. Money in pre-paid accounts will almost certainly be lost.
BT has added a new fixed cost charge band FF44 at 80p/call.
Version 163 in early January 2012 updates BT, 24Talk (residential), AOL Talk (residential), Primus Saver (residential), Resource Utilities (business and residential), TalkTalk (residential), Telesave (residential and business) and TeleTop (residential).
FreedomCall has stopped marketing telephony so has been removed. Vodafone is transferring it's landline broadband customers in February 2012 so has been removed.
BT has added another directory enquiry band DQ130 charged at £2.50/min.
Version 162 in early December 2011 updates BT, 0844 Calls (residential), Adept Telecom (business and residential), Calls Discount (residential), Coms.Com (business and residential), eZe-Talk (residential), First Number (residential), FreeCall (residential), GoTalk (residential), Hive Telecom (residential), PlusNet (residential), Skype (PC only residential), SuperLine (residential). TalkTalk (residential), Telestunt (residential), TopUpNow (residential), Virgin Media (residential), VoIPCheap (residential) and WebCall Direct (residential). First National Telecom calling cards has been removed.
BT has increased most residential prices by 5%, including line rental by 70p to £14.60/month, day time calls to 7.95p/min, evening calls to 1.05p/min and call set-up by 0.6p to 13.1p/min. UK mobile calls are held in price, but most international calls are up in price, with a few minor countries remaining the same. Discounted UK mobile call plans are no longer available for new supply. The paper free billing discount for old customers has now been discontinued so effectively a £1.25/month increase. The Evening and Weekend Plan is up 15p to £3.15/month, but Unlimited Anytime Plan is down 10p to £4.90/month (but up if you include line rental). Most Calling Feature and Network Feature rentals are up, most now being £3.15/month. A minimum one minute daytime call will now cost 21p. BT last increased all these prices in April, there was the VAT increase in January and before that October 2010, so four changes in just over a year. BT has however committed to freezing line rental, Anytime plan and inland call costs until 2013.
BT Business Plan Lite daytime mobile prices have been reduced. BT has added another directory enquiry band DQ129.
Version 161 in late October 2011 updates BT, Alpha Telecom (residential), Andrews & Arnold (business and residential), Axis Telecom (business), Kingston Communications, Orange (residential), Scottish & Southern Energy (residential), Sky Talk (residential) and TalkTalk (residential). Continental Telecom was shut down by the High Court and has been removed. Yellow Telecom has ceased service and been removed. Axis Telecom is now only offering business services so the residential tariffs have been removed. Call Union's web site is very old and no longer has call rates, so it has been removed.
The operator address list has been cleaned of various resellers still listed by Ofcom but which are believed to be no longer trading, but others may remain since companies often disappear without notification.
BT has increased business line rental from 1st November 2011, a regular annual increase. Analogue rental is now £16.52/month, ISDN-2e £37.40/month and ISDN-30e £18.35/month per channel. Business Standard call set-up is up to 12p/call with most call prices also up, inland peak is now 10p/min, USA 45p/min, Europe 50p/min. BT Business One Plan, Plus, Traditional and VoIP services now round calls up to one minute instead of 15 seconds for annual spends below £5,000. BT Business Plan prices have increased, with some of the lower spending tiers consolidated.
BT has added another directory enquiry band DQ127. BT has introduced BT Business Complete a package with minimum 24 month term and such convoluted terms and conditions I can not ascertain whether it is uncapped, capped, inclusive or unlimited. It seems to cost 1p per month (plus line rental) and then £20.50/month for the next 21 months, but only £12.50 if you also have BT business broadband, per line.
From 3rd December 2011, BT is increasing line rental by 70p to £14.60/month, Unlimited Anytime Plan to £4.90/month, daytime calls to 7.95p/min, evening calls to 1.05p/min and call set-up by 0.6p to 13.1p/min. A minimum one minute daytime call will now cost 21p. BT last increased all these prices in April, there was the VAT increase in January and before that October 2010, so four changes in just over a year.
Version 160 in late September 2011 adds Just-Dial Instant (residential) and updates BT, 24Talk (residential), ACN (business and residential), AOL Talk (residential), ICUK (business and residential), Post Office (residential), Primus Saver (business and residential), RateBuster (residential), TalkTalk (residential) and Vonage (residential). Just-Dial TopUp2Talk is now being marketed as a service from mobile phones only so has been removed.
BT has added another directory enquiry band DQ128.
Version 159 in late August 2011 adds Matrix Dial (residential) and updates BT, Focus (business). Sky Talk (residential), Phone Co-Op (business and residential), Tesco (residential) and Wizards (business and residential). Saga has been removed since it now refers customers to Phone Co-Op.
BT has added two new fixed fee bands FF42 and FF43, and a directory enquiry band DQ126.
Version 158 in late July 2011 adds Xinix World (business) and updates Post Office (residential), TalkTalk (business and residential) and Virgin Media (residential).
No changes from BT this month, very, very quiet.
Version 157 in late June 2011 updates BT, ACN (business and residential), AOL Talk (residential), Auracall (business and residential), Cheapest Chat (residential), Kingston Communications, Scottish & Southern Energy (residential), Simply-Fone (residential), Sky Talk (residential) and TalkTalk (residential). 123Call has been removed for old tariffs.
From 1st June 2011, BT reduced residential UK mobile prices by about 1.4p/min. From 1st July 2011, two more mobile bands reduce prices, and the charging basis for premium bands P54 to P62 added in February 2011 changes from a fixed fee and per minute cost, to fixed fee for first minute then extra minutes, which is the same charging scheme as many other premium bands, possibly suggesting a pricing error in February.
Version 156 in late May 2011 adds Zen Business Talk (business) and updates BT, Axis Telecom (business and residential), TalkTalk (residential and business), and Zen Internet (business and residential). Opal Business is now TalkTalk Business.
From 28th May 2011, BT changed most business UK mobile rates, slight increases or decreases depending on package.
118118 has moved to a new directory enquiry band that changes it's cost from £1.29 set-up then 42p/min, to 41p set-up then £1.29/min, effectively doubling the cost after a minimum one minute call. But this is still slightly less than BT 118500 which is now 49p set-up and £1.39/min.
Ofcom changed it's regulations to prevent telecom and broadband contracts longer than two years being offered, and consumers and businesses must be offered a contract of no more than one year.
Version 155 in late April 2011 updates BT, 24Talk (residential), ACN (business and residential), AOL Talk (residential), eZe-Talk (residential), Post Office (residential), Scottish & Southern Energy (residential), Sky Talk (residential), TalkTalk (residential), Virgin Media (residential) and Yourcalls.net (residential). Tiscali has been removed, now it's customers are absorbed into TalkTalk.
From 28th April 2011, BT increased residential line rental by 30p/month to £13.90/month, call set-up fee by 1p to 12.5p/call, day time calls by 0.6p to 7.6p/min, and various calling features by about 10%. A three minute local day time call will cost 35.3p. 10 years ago such a local call would have cost 12p, during which time the internet has dramatically reduced the cost of communications. From 1st May 2011, calling features also increased in cost for business customers. BT has added two new directory enquiry bands, to allow increase in the cost of certain calls.
Version 154 in late March 2011 adds Cheap International Calls (residential) and updates BT Business, AOL Talk (residential), Axis Telecom (business and residential), Be Un Limited (residential), CherryCall (residential), O2 (residential), TalkTalk (residential) and Virgin Media (residential).
BT has increased various business call charges from 1st April 2011. Standard business call set-up is up from 9p to 10p/call, and inland call charges up 1p/minute. Many BT business international call costs up about 10%.
BT has introduced BT Business Flex tariff for calls and lines, minimum one BT line, minimum period 24 months auto renewed for further 24 months unless cancelled during 34 day window around expiry (so not really flexible, and the type of contract Ofcom is currently trying to ban).
Ofcom continues it's long running campaign to reduce the cost of calling mobile phones from landlines. From April 2011, cost is expected to be reduced by about 1.5p/min, then a further 2p/min over the next three years, also H3G should no longer be charged higher than the other main networks. Note no telephone operators have yet published reduced mobile pricing. Ofcom has also announced slight reductions in BT wholesale charges, that may result in lower line rental and broadband costs.
Version 153 in late February 2011 updates BT, 05pence (residential), 0844 Calls (residential), 1301 (residential), 24Talk (residential), Abroadcall (residential), AbroadTel (residential), ICUK (business and residential), PhoneBird (residential), Phone Cheap (residential), PlusNet (residential) and TopUpNow (residential).