Cable Forum - View Single Post - BT: Evenings don't start at 6 o'clock any more

m419 · 01-02-2010, 18:31

I'm not being funny or anything but it is all the landline phone companies putting up there prices.

The main excuse is ''Rolling out better broadband and future services''. Maybe, but people should have thought of that when allowing BT to become privatised and allowing more than 1 or two phone companies. It has proven a failure in benefiting the customer. Back in the 90's there was just 3 choices and in the late 80's there was two,well in the advanced telephone exchanges which supported Mercury's 131 and 132 services. Back then, both BT and Cable firms were able to afford offering low cost line rental and phone services because they had the customers to do so, but since the arrival of One Tel,TalkTalk,Tiscali,Sky Talk/Easynet and a few more, they've stolen BT,Cable and Wireless(Mercury) and Cable firm revenues.

If BT was nationalised and was the only phone service around, it would have maximum subscribers and would have all the revenue it needs to upgrade its network rapidly. But since there are many phone companies licenced to dig up streets and compete with BT, it slows them down.

The cheap calls from mobiles won't last forever i'm afraid, mobile phone companies are under a lot of pressure from Ofcom and the European goverment to offer lower cost international roaming rates and several organisations including some mobile network operators such as 3 are pressurising the industry into abolishing termination rates. Mobile phone companies will then look into looking for other ways to make up for lost revenue and the only alternative is increasing outgoing calls,line rental and increasing costs of using miscellaneous services such voicemail,text messaging and surfing the web on your mobile phone.

With regards to Skype and Voip services such as Vonage, to be honest its not catching on, why because to get the best value you really need Virgin Broadband as you don't need a phone line which means saving money on line rental, however Virgin Media have even caught onto that too, they offer the Broadband alone service very cheaply to new customers BUT only if you take a Virgin phone line,so you can't do right for doing wrong.

Also, once or if voip penetration levels increase, then they will also increase costs.

At the end of the day,its these expensive call costs that fund and maintain phone networks and provide future services. Voip providers don't have to invest in anything and therefore is a threat to the telecoms industry especially on a financial basis.

Nevertheless, the existing phone companies such as BT,Virgin Media,Cable and Wireless and the 5 mobile networks need to look at ways of getting rid or lowering termination rates otherwise it will remain expensive!

01-02-2010, 18:31	#14
m419 cf.mega poster Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: London Services: Virgin XL TV, 20MB Broadband,Virgin XL Phone,Hutchison 3G Pay Monthly Posts: 1,460	Re: BT: Evenings don't start at 6 o'clock any more I'm not being funny or anything but it is all the landline phone companies putting up there prices. The main excuse is ''Rolling out better broadband and future services''. Maybe, but people should have thought of that when allowing BT to become privatised and allowing more than 1 or two phone companies. It has proven a failure in benefiting the customer. Back in the 90's there was just 3 choices and in the late 80's there was two,well in the advanced telephone exchanges which supported Mercury's 131 and 132 services. Back then, both BT and Cable firms were able to afford offering low cost line rental and phone services because they had the customers to do so, but since the arrival of One Tel,TalkTalk,Tiscali,Sky Talk/Easynet and a few more, they've stolen BT,Cable and Wireless(Mercury) and Cable firm revenues. If BT was nationalised and was the only phone service around, it would have maximum subscribers and would have all the revenue it needs to upgrade its network rapidly. But since there are many phone companies licenced to dig up streets and compete with BT, it slows them down. The cheap calls from mobiles won't last forever i'm afraid, mobile phone companies are under a lot of pressure from Ofcom and the European goverment to offer lower cost international roaming rates and several organisations including some mobile network operators such as 3 are pressurising the industry into abolishing termination rates. Mobile phone companies will then look into looking for other ways to make up for lost revenue and the only alternative is increasing outgoing calls,line rental and increasing costs of using miscellaneous services such voicemail,text messaging and surfing the web on your mobile phone. With regards to Skype and Voip services such as Vonage, to be honest its not catching on, why because to get the best value you really need Virgin Broadband as you don't need a phone line which means saving money on line rental, however Virgin Media have even caught onto that too, they offer the Broadband alone service very cheaply to new customers BUT only if you take a Virgin phone line,so you can't do right for doing wrong. Also, once or if voip penetration levels increase, then they will also increase costs. At the end of the day,its these expensive call costs that fund and maintain phone networks and provide future services. Voip providers don't have to invest in anything and therefore is a threat to the telecoms industry especially on a financial basis. Nevertheless, the existing phone companies such as BT,Virgin Media,Cable and Wireless and the 5 mobile networks need to look at ways of getting rid or lowering termination rates otherwise it will remain expensive!