The limits of unlimited calls and download bundles

Unfortunately, almost all “unlimited” call and broadband packages are, in fact, limited.

The use of the word ‘unlimited’ in telecoms advertising rarely means exactly as it suggests. These types of deals are generally subject to some sort of fair usage policy (FUP) by the provider, whether it’s call or broadband packages they’re offering.

In fact some of the bundles we have reviewed could actually cost you more than a straight forward “no frills” easy to understand pay as you use pricing structure.

Here at Tech IP we don’t go in for false advertising preferring instead to be completely upfront with our customers and let them make their own decisions based on actual information and not false promises.

Our pricing is competitive and we only ever expect our customers to pay for what they use; instead of what happens with some of these bundle deals where often calls are rounded up to the nearest minute costing customers more in the long run.

However “Unlimited” bundles might be something that you think works well for your business and because of this we have put together a check list of things to consider before paying out money that might be better spent elsewhere in your business.

• Fair usage policies – Pretty much all “Unlimited” bundles carry a fair usage policy which means you will start to get charged for any calls you make once you have hit this limit. Check what this is and compare this with your last 3 months telephone bills usage averages, it’s really simple.
• Telephone call billing used – Beware on this point, normally your telephone calls are charged by the second but we have seen Unlimited usage bundles out there that round all calls up to the nearest minute. This way you will be losing lots of minutes from the fair usage policy amount and could break into charges much, much sooner.
• Charges when outside of your fair usage amount – Now this is where you can find yourself paying more than you do now for those unlimited call packages, make sure you check call rates, are they billed by the second or by the minute, is there a call set up fee and any minimum call charges applied, these are all ways that unlimited bundles can end up costing you more.
• Are there any calls not included? – Check for calls to pretty much all 08 numbers as although changes are being implemented in July to include some of these in your minutes, there are still some numbers that will remain exempt along with International traffic and numbers such as directory services too. You can always spot these calls on your current itemised billing under “other/premium/international” and make sure you don’t include them in any saving calculations.

If you are considering any of these types of deals and want a second opinion before you proceed, please just contact us now on 0800 50 533 50 for free no obligation straight talking advise. Alternatively you could sned us an enquiry online by clicking here.