On Oct 25, 9:49*pm, MIG wrote:

On 25 Oct, 21:20, Mizter T wrote:

On Oct 25, 9:09*pm, 1506 wrote:

On Oct 25, 12:45*am, "Mizter T" wrote:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/contact/13879.aspx

From today one can no longer dial a London number to get London travel
information, one has to dial the new 0843 222 1234 number - 0843 numbers of
course cost more, from a BT line that's 5p a minute (plus a "call set up
fee" aka connection fee of 10.9p), but the real sting is for those who call
from mobiles - e.g. from an O2 contract phone it will cost 20p/min, or an O2
PAYG phone it'll cost 25p/min. And UIVMM the 0843 number range is not
included within any inclusive allowances offered by any landline telco (BT,
Virgin, Talk Talk etc), let alone any offered by a mobile provider.

A regressive step, IMHO. One trusts that TfL will retain ownership of ABBey
1234 nonetheless (you never know, it could be put back into use in the
future). As of this morning if you call the 7222 1234 number you'll hear a
recorded message directing you to dial the new 0843 number.

Agreed on all points. *The new automated system could just as easily
been implemented on the old, 020-7222 1234, number.

Except that wouldn't have resulted in any revenue, whilst with the
0843 number, TfL gets a cut of the monies.

Does anyone know if they get a bigger cut of the bigger fees charged
to mobiles for those numbers? *I've never understood the logic behind
that.

I think the 'termination fee' (that is, the fee paid to the final
telco, which in this instance it then shares with the called party) is
the same regardless of where the call originates from (so the rest is
kept by the mobile service provider) - so from a mobile users
perspective it's a mighty expensive way for TfL to collect a few
pennies for the call.