U5434122@ucsvc.ucs.unimelb.edu.au (08/17/90)
> Since they have many readers outside the UK, a few months ago they > offered a way of reaching their service from abroad: "just dial +611 > 411 421, normal inter- national rates apply". (Kindly enough, they > added "N.B. From Australia dial 00551 4009". And before you try > calling: they haven't been advertising this number for the past two > months, so the service may have been discontinued.) > My question is: what's in it for them? Does Telecom Australia give > them a share of the revenue from the calls they get? Since 0055- is the 'premium service' prefix in Australia, equivalent to 1-900, 0898, 0839, etc, it appears that they have set up a service in Australia to avoid international call rates. My guess is that most of their OS readership is in Oz. Charges for 0055 numbers are determined by the 6th digit: Sixth Digit 7,9 5,6 0-4 8am-6pm M-Sat 33 39 57 6pm-10pm M-F 22 26 38 10pm-6am 6pm Sat-8am Mon 13 15 23 Charges are given in cents/minute, but are charged in multiples of 22c. $A1.00 = $US0.80 = GBP0.43