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TELEPHONES
Public telephones
Some public
telephones in the UK are coin-operated and others are
card-operated. To use a card-operated telephone, you need either
a credit card or a special phone card. Phone cards come in values
of £2, £5, £10 and £20, and you can buy them from newsagents,
post offices and supermarkets. The amount of time you get with
each card depends on where you are calling: long-distance calls
will use up your card faster than local calls.
Most
card-operated telephones have a display panel telling you where
and how to insert your card, when to dial and when to hang up.
If you are using a phone card, the display will also show you
how much money you have left on your card.
Telephone numbers
Telephone numbers in the UK are usually written like this:
• 020 7482 1456
• 0161 592 4836
• 01223 273300
The first three to five numbers in the series are the codes you
need to dial if you are outside that particular area. For
example, 020 is the code for London and 0161 is for Manchester.
If you are inside the Manchester area, you ignore the 0161 and
just dial the rest of the number. When telephoning the UK from
overseas, ignore the first 0 of any number, so (0161) 592 4836
should be dialed as +44 (for the UK) 161 592 4836.
Mobile phones
Mobile phones are very popular in the UK, and a number of
packages are available:
• Pay-monthly plans: You sign a contract (make an
agreement) with a mobile phone network or a service provider and
agree to use the network’s service for a minimum period,
usually12 months. You choose a tariff (a fee structure) from a
range of choices offered by the network. The network or service
provider bills you monthly for your calls and services.
• Pre-paid plans: You sign a contract with a network or a
service provider and pay for a minimum of 12 months’ service in
advance, at a cheaper rate than for monthly plans. If you use
the phone more than the agreed amount, the network or service
provider bills you monthly for the extra time/calls.
• Pay-as-you-go plans: This is probably the best option
as it enables you to carefully budget the use and therefore the
cost of the phone. You buy credit (talking time) in advance,
either direct from the network or in the form of vouchers. You
use the phone until the credit runs out, and then you buy more
credit. No contracts or bills are involved.
There are hundreds of
different tariffs available. For example, one tariff might have
low rates for calls made during the day and higher rates in the
evening, and another might have the reverse. The cost of phones
also varies widely. If you buy a phone when you sign up for a
plan, your network will subsidise the cost of the phone, so you
will
not have to pay the full price. The subsidies vary from network
to network and from plan to plan. So shop around until you find
the combination of plan, tariff and phone cost that best meets
your needs. Shop staff will be able to give you advice, and most
places, including the major supermarkets and high street chains,
will offer good deals.
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