Telecoms, Devon Style

Sunday 31st August, 2008 - £7,977.79 in debt…

A couple of years ago, I signed up with 1899, a phone service that gave me free calls. A few months later, my phone started doing crazy things and making noises I wasn’t expecting - I cancelled the 1899 subscription and the noises went away. But now that my phone bill is creeping over £20 a month, I’m going to try again.

The problem with phone tariffs is that the cheapest ones give you free evening and weekend calls. Not a problem, you say? I should stop moaning and get on with my life? That’s easy for you to say. But I work day shifts and my boyfriend works night shifts, so we use the phone at all times of the day and night. We should get a tariff with unlimited calls… or use 1899.

1899 is a very cheap secondary phone service. To use it, you just sign up at www.1899.com and set up your payment method. You must already have a landline and pay your monthly line rental fee to BT or whoever - 1899 just charges you for your calls.

All calls to UK fixed lines are free after a 5p connection charge, so you can be on the phone for as long as you like, at any time. You use the service by dialling 1899 before the full number you want to call, so if a particular type of call is cheaper with your fixed line provider, you can just miss out the prefix number and dial as normal.

For instance, daytime calls to 0845 numbers cost 2p per minute with BT but 3.5p per minute with 1899. But most of my calls are to UK landlines: I currently get free weekend calls with BT, but the connection charge is 6p so I’ll be using 1899 for all my UK fixed line calls. That keeps things pretty simple.

So, 1899 gives me a quick and simple sign-up process, free calls day and night, and no registration, subscription or cancellation fees. And, so far, no surprising noises coming from my phone. Touch wood.