Dear Telcos, about our elderly......

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kiwifidget

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#269740 5-Apr-2020 17:49

Extended internet is nice, but what my mum would really like is unlimited free national landline calls.

Maybe quite a few of our elderly could stay better in touch if they didnt have to pay toll calls right now.

Thank you.

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#2455299 5-Apr-2020 19:19

A lot of broadband plans from the major telcos all include free national calling when you have a landline with them - ie 2degrees (purely as an example) charge $15 for a phoneline and that includes free national calling.

Since they don't charge for calls are you suggesting these telcos make the phone service available for free?

msukiwi

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#2455300 5-Apr-2020 19:25

A lot of elderly have NO broadband.

Just a POTS line, and pay for all non-local calls.

(Or all calls, in some cases)

They already pay in excess of $60/month just for the POTS service.

(My mother is one in this category)

I can see where the OP is heading!

kiwifidget

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#2455301 5-Apr-2020 19:26

My mum's provider charges for toll calls. I think she is with Spark. There is no broadband where she lives.

The telcos are giving everyone free extra data, so why not free calls as well, esp for the elderly who might not be using much data let alone extra data.

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mattwnz

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#2455344 5-Apr-2020 19:30

Don't some mobile providers do this? Eg Kogan Mobile

quickymart

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#2455345 5-Apr-2020 19:30

But they would still be charged the line rental? Is that what you're suggesting?

kiwifidget

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#2455346 5-Apr-2020 19:31

Being charged the line rental is fine, its just the toll calls I am thinking about.

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#2455409 5-Apr-2020 23:07

You can thank the kiwishare for keeping calling zones exactly how they were back in the dark ages. I had hoped that it would disappear with UFB and all the new good things, but no, still split the country up into arbitary small calling zones that make no sense when everything is the same when called from a mobile.

If they wanted to do something they could axe the whole national toll call concept, but they wont, its a good money earner while the boomers are still around who refuse to get a mobile.

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#2455411 5-Apr-2020 23:19

sbiddle:
A lot of broadband plans from the major telcos all include free national calling when you have a landline with them - ie 2degrees (purely as an example) charge $15 for a phoneline and that includes free national calling.

Since they don't charge for calls are you suggesting these telcos make the phone service available for free?

@sbiddle The $15 also includes unlimited calling to OZ landlines

Which is great value

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#2455417 5-Apr-2020 23:47

It's hard to think about toll calls these days. You dial without a second thought. My great uncle spoke with me and was extremely enthusiastic about a deal he got with Vodafone mobile - something like $1 for 600 international minutes. I remember when even 1 minute as easily more than $1. He rang the vodafone call center to find out about the deal though - I don't think they make much from him as a customer!

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mattwnz

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#2455418 6-Apr-2020 00:06

kiwifidget:

Being charged the line rental is fine, its just the toll calls I am thinking about.

You can use 'Call zero' to make free national landline calls.But you need an internet connection to type on the numbers on the website, for it to work Some elderly people I know use this a lot and they find it easy to use. . But telcos will also often offer an addon for unlimited national calls

Bung

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#2455424 6-Apr-2020 05:17

mattwnz: But telcos will also often offer an addon for unlimited national calls

This.

Rather than wait you could arrange this for your old mum in advance of Mother's day next month, probably cost less than a card and postage.

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jonathan18

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#2455426 6-Apr-2020 06:07

I’d been looking into my mother’s account with Slingshot yesterday, and noticed their charge is $5 for unlimited national minutes (that’s on a UFB account, not sure if it’s the same for all, but if so that’s not unreasonable).

I was checking the account as I was confused by a significantly larger bill - cause was a $25 0900 call, but gave no info as to the company or specific number. How unhelpful is that? Could be a legit donation she wanted to give, could be something dodgy, but how can I tell if the bill or their online portal give no details? (Mother has dementia so doesn’t recall these kinds of things...)

Have asked for the info on the call plus a block on 0900 numbers so we’ll see... given what my mother has been signing up for and then having no recollection of (a website hosting account, a dodgy astrology service...) it’s just not worth the risk.

Kiwifruta

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#2455438 6-Apr-2020 07:22

jonathan18:

I’d been looking into my mother’s account with Slingshot yesterday, and noticed their charge is $5 for unlimited national minutes (that’s on a UFB account, not sure if it’s the same for all, but if so that’s not unreasonable).

I was checking the account as I was confused by a significantly larger bill - cause was a $25 0900 call, but gave no info as to the company or specific number. How unhelpful is that? Could be a legit donation she wanted to give, could be something dodgy, but how can I tell if the bill or their online portal give no details? (Mother has dementia so doesn’t recall these kinds of things...)

Have asked for the info on the call plus a block on 0900 numbers so we’ll see... given what my mother has been signing up for and then having no recollection of (a website hosting account, a dodgy astrology service...) it’s just not worth the risk.

Have you googled the 0900 number?

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#2455456 6-Apr-2020 08:00

I think Spark still offer their $14 addon that gives you unlimited national landline to landline calls up to 2 hrs per call.

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#2455483 6-Apr-2020 09:16

kiwifidget:

My mum's provider charges for toll calls. I think she is with Spark. There is no broadband where she lives.

The telcos are giving everyone free extra data, so why not free calls as well, esp for the elderly who might not be using much data let alone extra data.

Why dont you and your family just chip in and pay her phone bill during this period? That seems an easier answer rather than demanding more free services.

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