Can One Call Betamax Gateways In Germany on German Flat Rate Plans?

[ronwi]

Sounds like utter nonsense.

Originally Posted by dg7feq

The official announcement from the providers say that there is a "high network load" to certain number ranges and they block these numbers "to ensure a good quality of service" for all customers....

Chris

[dg7feq]

Originally Posted by ronwi

Sounds like utter nonsense.

of course it is. The only real reason is that they wanna earn the $ $ $ on their own network...

[bbob]

You can try to do it yourself

at sipgate.de you can get a free did voip number.
Then using pbxes.com or simualr system you could setup a callforward system.

You call your own number, give a pincode and you will get a dialtone to dial the number you want.

Onlt problem with pbxes is that freecalls still don't seem to work because of some ip problems. That said you can still use your mobile to make cheap calls outside germany this way.

If you have a regular number i doubt that it will ever get blocked but a carries. I did this when I was in the USa last year. Used my did number there to call the number and than call europe for low voicetrading/betamax rates.

[inquisitor]

sipgate.de only assigns local DID numbers if your identity and address has been proved. Otherwise you get only 01803 numbers, which are not covered by flatrates, but cost at least € 0,50/min from mobiles.
However if you have a friend in Germany, who can prove his address and so could get a local DID, you could also easily setup a callthrough system with a very advanced but anyway simple to set up VoIP-router called "Fritz Box Fon", which is sold from € 20-30 at eBay (at least used ones).

[ronwi]

Actually, I have my own Asterisk system, and know of the local resident restrictions for geographical DIDs in Germany which is why I didn't consider sipgate.de. Good to know that the non-geographical VOIP numbers are expensive to call, so I don't use that.

When I as in Berlin in February I used Ortel (Ortel Mobile - Connecting the world), which uses the eplus network and accepts eplus top-up cards. The SIM card is hard to find, but is sold in all eplus company stores. Calling the US is a 15 cent startup charge per call, then 9 cents per minute.

I can see blocking betamax access numbers on the flat rate plan. However, blocking them for customers who are paying by the minute is pure greed. That practice would be illegal in the US, despite our light regulation.

Originally Posted by inquisitor

sipgate.de only assigns local DID numbers if your identity and address has been proved. Otherwise you get only 01803 numbers, which are not covered by flatrates, but cost at least € 0,50/min from mobiles.
However if you have a friend in Germany, who can prove his address and so could get a local DID, you could also easily setup a callthrough system with a very advanced but anyway simple to set up VoIP-router called "Fritz Box Fon", which is sold from € 20-30 at eBay (at least used ones).

[9eor9]

At present I use a congstar flatrate contract (9,99€/month (T-Mobile)) without any problems to call dialnow (Betamax) access numbers.

blau.de (E-Plus) is also working.

[petkow]

Interesting to know congstar still allows calls to the betamax access numbers though! I wonder for how much longer!

As for the 'blocked' betamax access numbers from other networks, a while ago I heard on the rumour-mill that were a range of 'unpublished' betamax access numbers for this very reason! Not sure if that is the case for Germany!

[inquisitor]

There's a list of access numbers and there accessibility through German MNOs at o2_nummernsperre - Google Docs. It wasn't updated since December, but aparently I was wrong when I stated eplus would block Betamax access numbers.

[ronwi]

Perhaps it's the American lawyer in me, but....
from everything I have read, Germany has some very pro-consumer rules re mobiles (e.g., right to refund of prepaid balance.) Given that the chart that Inquisitor has linked shows that O2 blocks many discount dialing numbers, perhaps someone in Germany should file a complaint with the governmental entity that regulates cell phones regarding the O2 practices?

[Evan]

Originally Posted by ronwi

Perhaps it's the American lawyer in me, but....
from everything I have read, Germany has some very pro-consumer rules re mobiles

Nah you read wrong

When it comes to mobiles, Germany is one of the less consumer-friendly countries, at least in Europe, and especially with postpaid contracts.

There aren't many countries where:

- You get a 2-year contract (in most other countries, it's one year)

- If you don't cancel your contract at least 3 months before it expires, it is automatically renewed for 1 additional year (in most other countries, after the 1st year, you can cancel it anytime)

- You get a SIM-locked phone for the duration of your contract (in many other countries, the phones are sold unlocked by law)... this will hopefully change soon.

- It's prohibited to use your data plan for VoIP and P2P applications (and those ports are closed)... also this will hopefully change soon

- The price for SMS, stubbornly remains at 0.19€ (national) and 0.29€ (international), with most pre- or postpaid plans of the four major mobile telcos (while everywhere is Europe is falling down to 2c per SMS)

and so on and so on...

I learned the above the hard way... so when in Germany, use prepaid cards but not from the 4 big mobile telcos