 MERCURY vs BRITISH TELECOM
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   

 At last, for all of those in the dark of which service is best to suit your
 needs, here is the definative text file to explain what nobody has explained
 ever before!!

 The service required is called Mercury 2300 - Residential.

 Don't even bother considering going for any other service as these are for
 the business users and cost a considerable amount more, much more than you
 are likely to ever save on Mercury!


 
 INSTALLING
 ~~~~~~~~~~

 Installation is carried out by British Telecom, at the current charge of
 115.65 [133.00 inc VAT] with rental of the line at 15.35 [17.65 inc VAT]
 per quarter.

 To go Mercury, you need to fill in an application form [supplied with any
 Mercury compatible telephone which you will need] and you will receive
 a Mercury authorisation code within 7-10 days. The rental here is 8.62 a
 year.

 Once you have got the Mercury authorisation code, you can now decide upon
 which service each call you make should be routed through.


 
 ADVANTAGES OF MERCURY OVER BRITISH TELECOM
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 With the Mercury telephone you should now have got, there is a blue button
 which will automatically dial through to your Mercury exchange, send the
 code and obtain your dial tone. This is going through British Telecom and
 to prevent them charging aswell as Mercury, the number is set as a free
 call [lots of people have been worrying about that!].

 On Mercury, all calls are fully itemised and instead of the dreaded method
 of billing up to the nearest unit, Mercury will charge only what you have
 used. Therefore for a modem user you will no longer have to pay that 5p
 everytime you call and it fails to connect!.. that will save a huge amount
 in itself.

 Mercury also offers an discounted A rate service, similar to that offered
 by BT [B1 rate] this will give even cheaper discounts to main exchanges
 located under 35 miles from you.


 
 DISADVANTAGES OF MERCURY OVER BRITISH TELECOM
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 There are a few bad points with Mercury and one is basically that there is
 NO local call sevice, therefore the reasonable sum of 56p per hour local on
 British Telecom becomes the equivalent of an A rate.. more around 1.72!
 Also, a minimum charge of 7p operates. The solution therefore is to use BT
 for local and Mercury only for long distance.

 You must also note that you may not get the full benefits of Mercury's
 digital network on Mercury 2300 [Residential].. Because you are being routed
 through existing BT equipment at both your end and the called end, the
 advantages of fibre optic technology could be trashed in a few seconds by
 going via an old BT exchange.. Fortunately this should not be a problem for
 much longer as British Telecom gradually get the process of upgrading done.

 Directory enquiries costs 50p in comparison to BT's free [at the moment]
 service.

 
 NATIONAL CALLS   
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

				     MERCURY     BRITISH TELECOM
 - PEAK RATE -                       [p/Hour]    [p/Hour]

 L  Rate *                            670.68      303.6              

 A  Rate [Upto 35 miles]              690.0       713.46

 A  Rate [B1 rate under 35 miles]     670.68      n/a

 B  Rate [Over 35 miles]              809.37     1012.0 

 B1 Rate [Over 35 miles]              769.695     809.6

 M  Rate [Car phones, 0898..]        2328.06     2277.0 


				     MERCURY     BRITISH TELECOM
 - STANDARD RATE -                   [P/Hour]    [Per Hour]

 L  Rate *                            514.188     217.58             

 A  Rate [Upto 35 miles]              517.5       531.3

 A  Rate [B1 rate under 35 miles]     514.188     n/a

 B  Rate [Over 35 miles]              603.75      759.0 

 B1 Rate [Over 35 miles]              585.12      607.2

 M  Rate [Car phones, 0898..]        2328.06     2277.0 

				     MERCURY     BRITISH TELECOM
 - CHEAP RATE -                      [P/Hour]    [Per Hour]

 L  Rate *                            172.5       055.6              

 A  Rate [Upto 35 miles]              172.5       192.0 

 A  Rate [B1 rate under 35 miles]     172.5       n/a

 B  Rate [Over 35 miles]              282.9       404.8

 B1 Rate [Over 35 miles]              258.75      303.6

 M  Rate [Car phones, 0898..]        1569.06     1518.0 


 * If you are usually only calling locally then perhaps Mercury is not the
 service for you, but having said that - at only 10 pounds a year, why not
 have it!! [Nb: A Mercury telephone is also required, cheapest around 30]



 INTERNATIONAL CALLS
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 [Prices are Cheap rate, except G which is standard rate 24 hours]

				      MERCURY     BRITISH TELECOM
				      [P/Hour]    [Per Hour]

 A  Band                              2023.77     2024.0 

 A2 Band                              2349.45     2398.44

 B  Band                              2698.59     2742.52

 C  Band                              3534.87     3542.0

 D  Band                              5057.01     5135.9

 E  Band                              4792.05     4798.88

 F  Band                              unknown     6876.54

 G  Band                              8469.75     8475.5


  NB: The charge bands differ slightly and some major countries fall
      into discount groups.. This service is not available on BT.


  Eg:   France            1862.31       BT - A band at 2024.

	Sweden            2519.88       BT - B band at 2742.52

	USA/Canada        3254.04       BT - C band at 3542.

	Australia         4362.18       BT - E band at 4798.88

	Hong Kong         4410.48       BT - E band at 4798.88

	Japan             7290.54       BT - G band at 8475.5



   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
   FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT MERCURY AND ITS SERVICES CALL 0800 424 194
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------


   Credits and general blabbing...


   Typed by Jonathan Morris, May 9th 1990, when I should have been revising
   for an exam but couldn't be bothered.


   Call the greatest bulletin board in the universe [probably]
  
   TREASURE ISLAND - 0992 447273 - After 9pm w/d - 24hrs w/e - 1200-9600 HST
