NEWSLETTER – JULY 2003

Holiday time!
Hello and welcome to the July Newsletter. Our theme this month is Holiday calling on your travels:

• Beware of using your UK Mobile phone abroad - it could cost you...
• Easy-dial "roaming extension" explained...
• Call from 28 countries worldwide, using a "Roaming Account"...
• Travelling to the UK? Open a Short break Account to call home...

Please read on for details...

Popular Rates (based on 0208 or 0845 access. for 0800 access just add 2p)
	Argentina B. Aires		1.9p
	Australia		1.5p
	Brazil Rio/Sao P.		2.9p
	China		1.9p
	China Mobile		1.9p
	Cyprus		6.9p
	France		1.9p
	Greece Athens		2.9p
	Hong Kong		1.5p
	India  Madras		9.9p
	India Bangalore		7.9p
	India Mobile		13p
	Iran Teheran		5.9p
	Italy		1.9p
	Japan Tokyo		2.0p
	Kenya Nairobi		11p
	Malaysia		2.5p
	Malta		9.9p
	Nigeria Lagos		6.9p
	Philippines		13p
	Portugal		2.5p
	Russia Moscow		1.5p
	Singapore		1.9p
	South Africa		6.9p
	Spain		1.9p
	Taiwan Taipei		1.9p
	Thailand Bangkok		4.9p
	Thailand Mobile		9.9p
	Turkey Istanbul		6.9p
	USA land / Mobile		1.9p
	Venezuela		6.9p
	Zimbabwe		6.9p
	and many many more...
	UK
Access Numbers (For 6 digit account numbers)
	0800 949 6619
	0800 358 4868
	0800 376 1243
	0800 018 9483
	0845 193 1000
	020 8584 2866
	European
Access Numbers (For 6 digit account numbers)   Austria 0800 10251504 Belgium 0800 50928 France 0800 940232 Germany 0800 1111171 Holland 0800 2658472 Italy 800 149023 Spain 900 800520 Sweden 200 125056 Suisse 0800 560714

 

	Recommend  friends  earn £50
	We are extending this scheme so that not only will you receive £10 calling credit for each friend and family member introduced, but you will also get 10% discount on your calls. Click here for details.
	Web  Account Management
	If you are not yet using our WAM system to access your call records, set up speed dials, register additional numbers and more, click here for details.

Beware of using your UK Mobile abroad

We reviewed Vodafone's pricing for calling from Spain and discovered that a typical low tariff contract or pay as you talk user is charged 74p per minute, not only to call the UK, but also to receive calls from the UK.  If you are on the £900 per annum tariff, or you pay £30 per annum extra, the charges drop to 60p for calling and 30p for receiving calls. Calls within Spain are charged at Vodafone's International rate of 74p, (Source: www.vodafone.co.uk)

We have not reviewed other Mobile provider rates, but believe that generally the Vodafone rates are typical of the likes of O2, T-Mobile and Orange! (Let me know if you know different. ed) Our advice is to be careful when using your UK Mobile abroad. Keep the use to a minimum, and of course use easy-dial !! (But not from your UK Mobile!....see below)

easy-dial "Roaming Extension" explained call anywhere from 9 European countries.

We have two types of Roaming service.  Firstly, your UK Calling Account Roaming Extension.  If you have a 6 digit account number*, this is available for you to use NOW from 9 European countries, and you do not need to do anything special except use the country specific free-phone access number e.g. for Spain 900 800520, and enter your account and pin number when prompted.  For full details of this service click here.  Please ensure that after you dial the free-phone number, you simply dial the UK number you are calling, without the 00 44 !  Calling anywhere else will require the full international code. Please refer to your new account letter/email or call us for clarification. *If you have a 7 digit account number, please contact us so that we can set you up for roaming extension.

Cost of a call from Spain to the UK is 6.9p when calling from a landline or payphone.  This is less than 10% of Vodafone's charge.  Also, if you call home, give the other party your number and ask them to call you back using your easy-dial Calling Account, it will cost you 3.9p per minute, (19 minutes for the price of 1 Vodafone minute). Warning! Please do not use your UK Mobile phone to access your easy-dial Calling Account from overseas. Your Mobile provider will charge you for this, at their (high) rate! Use a landline or payphone, or consider purchasing a local SIM card for your phone, but check that it will work with your handset and that it will work with our local access number first.

We have had excellent reports from Spain, Italy, France and Germany on the quality of the service.  In France, some payphones are proving troublesome and our Engineers are working on this. (Special thanks to our customer Monica G. for her help in diagnosing this problem).

The second type of Roaming Service is actually called a "Roaming Account", which can be used to call anywhere from Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Portugal, Thailand, Hong Kong and 21 other countries.  This account is particularly suited to holidaymakers to the USA and worldwide business travellers, as well as backpackers to the Far East, Australia and New Zealand.

This is a separate account and needs to be set-up either before you travel, or you can simply email us when you get there!  For full details click here.

Apart from all the wonderful attractions the UK can offer for visitors, you can use our "Short Break Account" to call home or anywhere in the world, from the UK, at very competitive rates with a minimum call deposit of only £10.  Your account will work from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  Convenient if you are on the move.  Be prepared - open an account before you leave, and you will be ready to call home as soon as you arrive. Click here for details.

Wherever you are travelling please have a pleasant and safe trip and enjoy the convenience and low cost of using your easy-dial Calling Account, Roaming Account or Short Break Account.

Happy Holiday!

We hope you have found this newsletter useful. If you have any comments about the newsletter, or any of our products and services, please email them to me. Click here to do this. You can also email this page to a friend by clicking on the yellow tell a friend envelope below.

Susan Ward
Editor