I signed up with this service at the end of Nov 05 and I'm pretty sure their connection fee was 2p for every call at that time.
Over the years it has slowly crept up and today I noticed it's now 5p.
I am with BT and we do not have cable in our town, does anyone know if there are similar providers to 18866 with a lower connection fee?...or are they still good value?
I don't make international calls.
I should add I signed up to BTs direct debit a couple of days ago instead of a paper bill.

1899 and 18185 now also charge 5p connection.

However, as the cheapest possible UK 01/02 call on BT these days costs 6p (3p 'call set-up fee' plus 3p for the first minute) they're all still excellent value even for the shortest of calls.

In fact, when you consider you could make a UK 01/02 call of unlimited duration for a total of 5p using them, they're remarkable value - when BT would be charging 3p per minute weekdays or ½p more for a call of up to an hour evenings or weekends.

Don't forget to make 6 chargeable calls on BT per quarter (2 per month if you're billed monthly) to keep 'free' (well, 33p /quarter actually) Caller Display.

Please DUMP 1571 too!

P.S. If you have to make 0870 calls (3p connection and 7p/minute on BT weekday daytime) and can't find geographical alternatives on SayNoTo0870.com, you might be interested in THIS.
Last edited by Heinz : 25-03-2007 at 14:49

I don't think I've made any calls (except 0800) on BT for well over 6 months and I still get Caller Display.

Keep an eye on your bill then - £1.75/month charges on the way ...........

I've got caller display, don't make BT calls (because the muppets didn't cancel CPS when I asked them too) and haven't been charged (YET).

The strange thing is I only canceled CPS to get caller display as I use 1899 for my charged calls.

I got the caller display but am still CPS to Onetel (or whatever they're calling themselves this week).

CPS is provided by the incoming line provider (BT, if you have CPS).

It has nothing to do with whoever you route your outgoing calls through.

I just signed up to CALL1899 on their website for their cheap calls to UK Mobiles...everything went through...only for me to receive the following email minutes later...

"Unfortunately your 1899 internet registration has failed.

Due to lack of capacity it is currently not possible to register. Please wait at least 6 weeks before attempting to register again. Our apologies for the inconvenience.
Kind regards,
1899 Customer Services"

Try registering with a different number like your mobile, then add your home phone number.

Thanks for that suggestion...it worked, I signed up with a different email, credit card type and my mobile...so now I'll login and register my landline no.

18185 is a cheaper overall supplier then 1899 and 18866, especially mobile calls.

And for calls to 0870 numbers (if you have to make them) - IF you use the 0808 1 703 703 gateway access number intended for cable landline users (but available to all registered users).

See HERE.

I presume you mean 'caller display' is provided ...

Yes, I know that.

The point was that at the time BT were offering free Caller Display if you were not on CPS.

Since I no longer used Onetel for outgoing calls (using one of the 1899 family instead), I was quite happy to cancel CPS in order to get Caller Display.

The thing is that I got caller display, have not been charged for it, but still have CPS to Onetel.


BTW, I find the caller display next to useless.

Calls from 1899/18866/18185 only show the number intermitantly and as most of my family and friends use them I can't ignore anonymous numbers as it might be a call I want.

Then most calls from companies and local/national government have number withheld and I certainly don't memorise all my friends mobile numbers.

After I received the succesful registration from 1899 last night I logged in to my account and added my landline number...the site states that it can take 30mins for the changes to go through.
This morning I decided to try call divert from my BT landline number to my mobile and keyed in (?????? represents the last 5 digits of my number)

*21*189901357??????#

When I try this I get the BT recording of...
"Sorry, diversion to this number is not possible"

Any ideas before I call CALL1899?
Does BT not allow call diversion to 1899...or is possibly a case of my landline number not being recognised by CALL1899?...or am I making a mistake in the digits I am dialling?
I have used BTs call diversion for years and if I dial it without the 1899 digits it works okay.
Both my nos show in my 1899 customer login page.

BT does not allow call diversion except via its own network.

Yes, qpw3141, I did mean Caller Display and not CPS!

I didn't know that.
That was a complete waste of time then signing up to CALL1899 as the whole point of the exercise was to divert my landline to my mobile at a cheaper rate than BT.

The best I've heard of is to name your mobile as your Best Friend in Friends & Family - that reduces the cost by 20%.

Thanks, I already have it set as my best friend.