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.

On 25 Oct, 08:45, "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.

It is interesting to read the official blurb on the TfL website about
the change.

New, voice-activated service

The new number includes a voice-activated service that will deal with
simple A to B journeys between stations, hospitals, major landmarks or
points of interest within the London area.

If your journey's more complicated you can speak to a travel adviser

Benefits
No more waiting to speak to someone
Get information easily and speedily
On the phone for less time
Travel advisers have more time for you if you do need them
We'll be making even more improvements to this service soon - watch
this space.

It will be interesting to see how the "voice activated" service copes
with the following tube journeys:-

Morden to Wimbledon
London Bridge to Liverpool Street
Euston To Russell Square
Walthamstow Central to Leytonstone

All of which are generally quicker by bus.

It never ceases to amaze me how deteriorations in service are dressed
up as "improvements". Rather like the Royal Mail in my area who,
motivated by a desire to "constantly improve our service to our
customers" have decided that the last collection from the local pillar
box will be at 5:30pm instead of 6:30pm.

On 25 Oct, 14:37, Paul wrote:
On 25 Oct, 08:45, "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.

*It is interesting to read the official blurb on the TfL website about
the change.

New, voice-activated service

The new number includes a voice-activated service that will deal with
simple A to B journeys between stations, hospitals, major landmarks or
points of interest within the London area.

If your journey's more complicated you can speak to a travel adviser

Benefits
No more waiting to speak to someone
Get information easily and speedily
On the phone for less time
Travel advisers have more time for you if you do need them
We'll be making even more improvements to this service soon - watch
this space.

It will be interesting to see how the "voice activated" service copes
with the following tube journeys:-

Morden to Wimbledon
London Bridge to Liverpool Street
Euston To Russell Square
Walthamstow Central to Leytonstone

All of which are generally quicker by bus.

It never ceases to amaze me how deteriorations in service are dressed
up as "improvements". Rather like the Royal Mail in my area who,
motivated by a desire to "constantly improve our service to our
customers" have decided that the last collection from the local pillar
box will be at 5:30pm instead of 6:30pm.

Of course it's an improvement. We can now make journeys of our own
choice, freed from the burden of interference by travel advisors.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On 26 Oct, 01:09, Mizter T wrote:
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.

In message
,
Mizter T wrote:
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.

No. 0843 numbers are covered by the "NTS" regime. With these, the
originating operator gets to charge a fee which is fixed by Ofcom, and
then hands the rest over to the terminating operator. The size of the
originating fee depends on where the call is handed over (and,
therefore, how much of the originating operator's network is used).
There are extra charges if number portability or a transit network is
involved.

In essence the terminating operator buys "origination" as a service at a
controlled price.

BT buy and sell origination under schedule 211 of the SIA
http://www.btwholesale.com/pages/dow...port/contractu
al_information/docs/nsia/nsch211.rtf. For calls to BT, handover is to
be as close to the originating point as practical.

0843 222 isn't a BT range, but BT's termination fees for NTS services
can be seen at:
http://www.btwholesale.com/pages/dow...port/pricing_i
nformation/carrier_price_list_browsable/B1_06.xls
and
http://www.btwholesale.com/pages/dow...port/pricing_i
nformation/carrier_price_list_browsable/B1_06a.xls
In effect, BT are saying "we'll pay you an origination fee of what you
charge the customer minus this number".

Other terminating operators will have their own prices.

[Disclaimer: this hasn't been part of my job for two or three years now,
so I don't guarantee its accuracy.]

--
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