exploitation

It is out of order but the explanation I heard this morning was that they needed to set something up quickly and have a line that could accept upwards of 200 calls per minute and apparently only premium rate calls can do that. In the short term I guess it'll have to do but if it's there to make money then it is an abomination.

I work for the police, in the crime bureau, and my colleague got whisked away the other night to work on the casualty bureau. I know it was very traumatic for her speaking to all these people who were looking for loved ones. I don't think anyone was thinking of making any money out of it.

it's been stated that any money that IS made will be given to help the victims anyway.

0870 numbers are not premium rate. I think you are thinking of the old system. Don't you recall the system being radically changed a few years ago to remove confusion over the vastly different charges made for similar numbers (as well as to free up a whole swathe of numbers to cope with ever expanding networks)? All mobiles switched from 10 digit to 11 digit numbers and began with 07. Premium rate lines were switched to 09. 0800 numbers are free for the caller but the number owner has to pay (I think). 0845 numbers charge the caller at local rate. 0870 numbers charge the caller at national rate. I've just googled the charges for national rate calls: 7p a minute peak; 4p off-peak and 1p evenings and weekends (I've rounded up/down). It appears that the 0870 owner receives something like 3p (at peak) per minute. Hardly exploitative insofaras it doesn't cost the caller anymore than any other call they might make and the number holder isn't coining it in - unlike the tv networks when thousands of people happily dial an 09 number at 50p per

0870 numbers are not premium rate. I think you are thinking of the old system. Don't you recall the system being radically changed a few years ago to remove confusion over the vastly different charges made for similar numbers (as well as to free up a whole swathe of numbers to cope with ever expanding networks)? All mobiles switched from 10 digit to 11 digit numbers and began with 07. Premium rate lines were switched to 09. 0800 numbers are free for the caller but the number owner has to pay (I think). 0845 numbers charge the caller at local rate. 0870 numbers charge the caller at national rate. I've just googled the charges for national rate calls: 7p a minute peak; 4p off-peak and 1p evenings and weekends (I've rounded up/down). It appears that the 0870 owner receives something like 3p (at peak) per minute. Hardly exploitative insofaras it doesn't cost the caller anymore than any other call they might make and the number holder isn't coining it in - unlike the tv networks when thousands of people happily dial an 09 number at 50p per call to vote for some z-list celebrity. Other premium rates charge anything from 60p to 150p per minute. Don't ask me why I know all this. It's the sort of trivial shite that occupies parts of my brain that ought to be doing something more useful like dialling 090blah and asking if Samantha is on duty tonight.

bollox I got booted ... c&p'd quickly ... came back and no sign of my post. Pasted it in ... now look an idiot. There ought to be a complaint number for this sort of thing. 090...