@HairyMcbiker wrote:
LL have always had a "setup fee" which harks back to the original days when a call was router manually. So the 1st minute cost you 35.5p/min then each other min is 13.5p.
No, the set-up fee is relatively new, starting on 1st October 2006 according to a post by a BT support person posting on the moneysavingexpert site. Calls used to be charged in units which varied in length of time depending on the time of day and whether it was a weekday or a weekend and what part of the country you were calling, although there was a minimum charge of one unit per call. The unit price stayed fairly steady at 4.2p + VAT for many years but the time allowed per unit shrunk over the years. BT then introduced a price per minute calculated to the exact second, but again with a minimum charge equal to the old one-unit charge. I was on a popular tariff where weekend calls were 1p/min, weekday evening calls 2p/min, and weekday daytime calls 3p/min.
When dial-up internet arrived I listed my ISP as my best friend and got a 20% discount on the 0845 number which was local rate in those days, i.e. paying 0.8p per minute after 6 pm. I remember feeling very rich when ISPs started offering 'anytime' dial-up internet at a fixed monthly cost and I could afford to use the internet before 6 pm on weekdays.
In recent years BT have started rounding everything in their favour so they first round the VAT-exclusive price up to a whole penny, the time up to a full minute, and then add VAT before rounding the final call price up to a whole penny again.
