Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!occrsh!uokmax!apple!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ogicse!decwrl!hayes!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request From: tharr!steveh@relay.eu.net (Steve Hamley) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: UK Telephone System Message-ID: <8590@accuvax.nwu.edu> Date: 3 Jun 90 16:06:53 GMT Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu Organization: TELECOM Digest Lines: 82 Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 410, Message 5 of 11 A few comments on Clive Feather's article on the UK telephone system: > For historical reasons, BT allocates area codes. This will change in a > couple year's time. It already has. Following complaints from Mercury about BT's behaviour towards them in allocating codes, Oftel now allocates all area codes. Incidentally, current thinking is that area codes will cease to exist when the UK phone network is completely digital. Users will then be able to take their 10 digit telephone number anywhere in the country. > 345 Calls charged at L rate irrespective of distance > 482 Hull Telephone Company > 800 Free calls > 831 Vodaphone > 836 Vodaphone They're actually called Vodafone. The cost of a call to Vodafone or Cellnet mobile phone numbers is determined by the digit after the area code. For example 8361 is charged at 'a' rate (Vodafone customer services, operator, etc.) whilst 8367 is charged at 'm' rate (actual cellphones). > 839 Calls charged at m rate irrespective of distance These are Mercury revenue sharing services. > 860 Cellnet > 898 Calls charged at m rate irrespective of distance These are British Telecom revenue sharing services. As with Mercury, a proportion of the income from these calls is given to the service provider. At present calls are charged at 25p / min peak and standard rates and 38p / min cheap rate, including VAT. Of this, 17.5p, excluding VAT, is passed on to the service provider. Vodafone also carries revenue sharing services, using the 8364 prefix. Cellnet is also licensed to do so, but doesn't because of its ties with BT. > Mercury has been allocated fifteen JXs in the 71 AC and the same > fifteen in the 81 AC. I believe that all Mercury subscribers have > numbers in this AC, irrespective of location. Mercury also has exchanges in other AFN areas. In some cases these were originally old BT Strowger exchanges! Don't let them kid you Mercury's all digital... > Area code 1 was used for London (both inner and outer) until 0001 on 6th May > 1990; I am unaware of any plans for it. The 01 prefix is now almost certain to be used for variable charge revenue sharing services - like the US 900 numbers. This cannot take place until a greater proportion of the BT network is digital. Mercury also plan to offer a similar service, probably using the same 839 prefix. > For example, anyone can call me by 0-954-78-0223. In addition, there are > certain special codes: > 010 international access > 0001 equivalent to 010 350 1 [Dublin] > 0055 from London only; calls charged at L rate > 0066 from London only; calls charged at a rate > 0077 from London only; calls charged at m rate 0055 and 0066 have now been phased out, 0077 will shortly be too. These were revenue sharing services. They weren't only available from London, but any city with a Derived Services Network centre. This is a network separate from the main BT network, which carries 345, 800 and 898 numbers. It has its origins as an early trunk network, I believe. 345 and 800 have now been switched over to the Digital Derived Services Network from the old analogue DSN. This uses AT&T 5ESS switches, allowing wide flexibility in call routing. Customers can choose to receive a certain percentage of calls at a different locations, changing depending on the time of day, for example. 898 is currently undergoing conversion to the DDSN. Steve Hamley ...ukc!axion!tharr!steve