"Nigel Roberts, 0860 578600" <"iosg::robertsn"@iosg.enet.dec.com> (08/29/90)
Reportedly, W. German toll-free service has eliminated the local call charge as of August 1. My wife read this in STERN or SPIEGEL or something when we were in Germany at the weekend, but I don't have a reference. (Can anyone confirm or deny?) 0130 numbers (originall called _Bundesweit zum Ortstarif_ service -- I don't know if there's a new name) are the nearest German equivalent to U.S.A. toll-free (800) and U.K. LinkLine (0800) service. Previously, 0130 numbers were charged as if the call was a local call (like the underused U.K. 0345 service). One other piece of telecom trivia which came my way recently is that a U.K. direct service is likely to be instituted from Germany using an 0130 number in the coming months. This information came from BTI. W. Germany does not allow collect (reverse-charge) and credit card calls either to or from foreign countries. The reason for this was the fact that they have very few operators, but the Bundespost (recently renamed Telekom) is now apparently prepared to consider Home Country Direct services. Nigel Roberts; Orichalk Ltd (on contract to DEC) Tel: +44 206 396610 & +44 860 578600 Fax: +44 206 393148