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Why Choose an Alternative Carrier?

Why change to an alternative call traffic provider?

In the beginning there was just BT. You as a customer had no choice but to rent your line from BT and pay for calls through BT.

However with deregulation the telephone networks in the UK were opened up to the competition. In the early days Mercury was one of the first alternatives to BT.

An organisation called OFTEL (now OFCOM) was set up by the government to act as a Watchdog over the industry. Its primary role was to encourage competition that would benefit the consumer, while acting as a police force to make sure the companies played the game within strict regulations.

How could the alternative Providers compete with BT?

Basically the alternative providers, or Carriers as I will call them from now on, were allowed to sell call time a cheaper rates. In other words BT was not allowed to undercut these newly established Telephone companies. BT was forced to open up its network of exchanges to these companies. These companies often used BT lines infrastructure.

So how did these new carriers use BT lines?

Say you had Company called ABC Limited who wanted to use an alternative Carrier. The company has its own Business Telephone system. This telephone system can be programmed to automatically insert a four digit code in front of every outgoing call. Each carrier has its own four digit code e.g. 1460

When a customer dials a number, say 01993 831222, the company's telephone system actually send the call out as 1460 01993 831222. When this call reaches the exchange the computers at the BT exchange see the access code 1460 and send the record to the alternative carrier. The carrier then sends you a bill, usually monthly.

So what does this mean for the consumer?

Well it means cheaper calls. In many cases the calls still use BT lines. You can make between 20% and 30% saving on your call charges. BT charge 4.2p as a minimum charge on a call. If you are on the phone for 30 seconds BT charge you 4.2p However if you use an alternative Carrier they normally charge by the connected second with a 1p minimum charge. This has an immediate effect on your bill.

What other savings can be made?

Well as the carriers are able to sell at a lower rate than BT you can usually make vast savings obviously dependent on the size of your telephone bill. Usually the larger your bill the greater the discount you can get from an alternative carrier.

Are there any snags and how can I avoid them?

As with everything in life you tend to get what you pay for. If it looks too cheap then be aware that the quality of service may not be good. So how can you tell who to choose? Well Oftel have a league table of the good and bad carriers. The better carriers are known as tier 1 carriers. They have to achieve high standards in order to become a tier 1 carrier. For more information on the tier system see our useful information page where more detail is given. There are a few rules or pointers that you need to be aware of when deciding which carrier to choose.

• Must be a Tier 1 carrier
• DON'T get tied into a contract
• Make sure it is per second billing (1p minimum charge usual)
• Make sure there are no hidden connection charges like BT 4.2 p min charge
• Get a list of all the destination charges if possible who knows you may want to ring some distant country
• Check the cost of calls from land line to mobiles
• Have a chat with us! We can help you reduce your costs