Telewest raises remote dial-up charges

Telewest has increased the cost of connecting to its Blueyonder dialup Internet service from non-Telewest lines, while falsely claiming that users will not incur extra charges from the change. Instead of using local phone numbers for its access points, the company is giving subscribers two numbers. The first is a shortcode for use from Telewest phone lines, and the second is an 0845 number for use from other phone lines.

The change will particularly impact customers who use their mobile phones to connect while travelling, as many mobile tariffs only allow inclusive or free minutes to be used to call geographic numbers, and charge extra for calls to non-geographic numbers such as 0845. However, even fixed line callers will see increased charges when using the 0845 number, as most tariffs now differentiate between those and real local calls. For example, even on Telewest's own residential tariff a 10 minute daytime geographic call costs 36p, but a 10 minute call to 0845 is 45.5p.

This is despite the claim made on Telewest's Onenumber page, where in reply to the question, "Will this cost me any extra?", it answers, "Not at all. The only change on your phone bill will be the phone number that is dialled to access the Internet."

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