Mobile phone records UK

I know that 10 years ago if you had a BT line and you called a mobile phone, even if the person did not answer this call would still be logged with BT and a very small charge made. Therefore, if you asked for a detailed bill you could see all of these call.

Does anyone know if a phone provider (BT or other) still log or charge for these none answered calls to mobiles?


Cheers

Alex

 

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All calls are logged by the phone exchange, then they are transferred to another system usually referred to as a 'rating' system, where the call rates are applied, that will then be passed to a company's billing system. It's at this last stage where it's decided it it will appear on your bill or not, most itemised bills have a cut off value, and calls below that limit (usually 50p) won't be shown.

You can opt for full itemisation, but generally free calls (to 0800 numbers, or stuff covered under 'friends and family' schemes, or free weekend calls, depending on your deal) won't be itemised. After all your bill is about money, not logging calls.

On charging for unanswered calls, yes, I believe you still get charged from the moment you are connected, because the call could go through to voicemail, or be redirected etc etc.

 

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The simplest point here is the world doesn't run on one network, in fact there are many "competitor" companies that lease their networks from each other. This implies that when you transverse a call across a network that is not a native network (i.e. calling a BT mobile through an Orange network) there is going to be a charge made by the other network which your provider isn't going to accept (in fact if you look at the small print of your contract, they can legal pass the buck direct the charge to you.

These network charges are more seen when calling mobiles in the US I believe, since they would charge for the network you are on and the one you are connecting too, making a call potentially cost twice as much.

 

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Yeah, in the US, the person receiving a call sometimes has to pay part of the cost. I guess, being such a large country, that's only fair, as the call could have to travel a fair way. We accept we have to pay a portion when roaming in Europe.

One thing I didn't get involved with when I worked for a phone company was reconciliation of call costs, we had agreements with other phone providers that we routed calls from their network to ours, of course, but I never found out how much we charged/were charged for this service. I just wrote some file transfer procedures and programs to extract data from exchanges, and reformat it for the rating engines. I never got to play with the rating engines.

 

In the US people are not charged extra for calling mobile phones, regardless of what network the recipient uses.

 

Probably different "Now", however I was refering to about 2003-5.

 

No, not then either. In the US you pay a flat monthly fee for unlimited local (within the same area code) calling, and a fixed per minute charge for out-of-area code "long distance" calling. The long distance price isn't affected by how far you're calling, so long as the recipient is in the US. It might be affected by when you call, since many companies charge less for calls made late at night or on the weekend. But so far as I know, people have never been charged more for calling mobiles. If the call is local, it's covered by the flat monthly fee. If it's long distance, you get charged the normal long distance rate. What network the recipient is using etc. doesn't matter.

What you describe (extra charges for switching networks) definitely can and does happen with calls made to foreign countries, but it never happens with calls made within the US.

 

Do you live in the US now? Just curious. What you describe sounds like the situation about a decade ago. Competition has brought prices down and made service very "all inclusive".

The basic standard for most mobile phones (that I know of) is unlimited everything. My AT&T plan (the worst phone company, IMHO) covers every number in the USA and Canada, for free (well, not for free, but at no extra charge), except for commercial phone numbers (like 1-900 numbers, and sex lines, etc). Granted, I have an expensive plan (I use my phone for work, and I have an iPhone) that runs me about $100 per month (but it includes internet and whatnot).

From what my friends in Spain tell me, and from what I've read, cell service in the US and Canada is nothing compared to the amazing coverage and reasonable prices available in Europe (like, perfect signals under bridges and out in the country), whereas land-lines here are way cheaper. I remember being startled when living in Tenerife when I was told that even a call to a house across the street incurred a charge, whereas here in the States all "local" calls (within about 20 klicks) are generally free.

Most people bundle their phone, cable and internet into the same service now. So for $120 per month--for example--COX provides me HSI, phone and digital cable service. Telefónica (the national phone carrier of Spain and much of Latin America) has a total monopoly in most markets and charges heavy fees for TV and internet service,.

~String

 

The location I was refering to was the state of Georgia, it's likely that some southern states suffered it as opposed to the more compacted northern/eastern states.

Obviously progress over time would be that prices would be dropped, but initially it was something reported to me for the back and beyond.

 

In the UK, you're not charged for merely making a phone ring. However, if the mobile user's answerphone service picks up this is treated as a normal call and you'll get charged.

Everything is logged.

 

Cheers for the reply. I will carry out some more investigation with the company concerned

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