# Voip



## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Does anyone have any idea why I can't dial 901 numbers using skype/voip ? It just comes up instantly ( before it's finished dialling) number invalid.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

Yes, it's a shared revenue line and the individual VOIP operators will not have an arrangement with the carriers. 

Skype SPECIFICALLY say that their services cannot be used to access the emergency services.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

SteveHall said:


> Yes, it's a shared revenue line and the individual VOIP operators will not have an arrangement with the carriers.
> 
> Skype SPECIFICALLY say that their services cannot be used to access the emergency services.


Cheers Steve,that explains it all.


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## libove (Feb 24, 2008)

My (otherwise excellent) online faxing service informed me that they cannot send to Spanish 901/902 services because the exact rates per minute are not pre-defined, and they bill based on known rates rather than based on actual bills received after the fact.
My guess is that something similar is the case for Skype, Vonage, etc.
I had thought, however, that I had successfully dialed 902 numbers from my Vonage account in the past, but now I'm not certain. (My Vonage account is US-based, not UK, in case that makes any difference).


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## chris(madrid) (Mar 23, 2008)

You need also to look here No más números 900 - Aprende a llamar gratis - Equivalencias gratuitas de teléfonos 901 y 902


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

chris(madrid) said:


> You need also to look here No más números 900 - Aprende a llamar gratis - Equivalencias gratuitas de teléfonos 901 y 902


:clap2::thumb: Excellent Chris , Thanks for that. Found what I wanted straightaway.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

libove - that is simply rubbish! You were fobbed off. No surprise there! 

1) The telephone rates of ALL licensed operators are pre-set. NO operator can make rates up on the hoof! They must lodge a MAXIMUM cpm with the national telecom licensing authority. They ARE allowed to discount downwards but NOT increase the per minute charge. 

2) Let me explain again. These NGN (Non-Geographic Numbers) are ¨virtual" numbers. They simply sit on the back of a landline (or increasingly mobile) 

So 902 100 100 could be to, say, El Corte Inglés. This number might site on a Valencia switchboard number (say) 96 643 1869. IF you could find that 96 number you could dial it and speak to the same operator on the same switch who would have exactly the same information/offers etc ON THE SAME landline might also site a 906 number where you would be charged for a national call ..... even if you were calling from the same building and worse there might be a 905 number where you would be paying 1 euro or more per minute! They could AL be sitting on the 96 number! 

You would be charged the same amount of money from wherever you called from Spain if you called the 902 number. You would be charged at whatever YOUR operator charges for a "local" call. (Technically whatever they charge for a band "A" NGN call) 

The upside of the 902 number is that whether I call from Madrid or Valencia I am "only" being charged for this bottom band call. 

The downside is that MANY people now have all LANDLINE-based local or national calls free of charge in what is commonly referred to as a "Bundled deal" (Telefónica´s famous ¨bono" and "Tarifa plana") UNLESS one knows the 96 number that the 902 number sits on, you will be CHARGED for the 902 call. 

Where it becomes trickier is that most of these NGNs have shared revenue on them so EITHER Telefónica pays the licensed supplier x cents per minute OR Telefónica charges the supplier x cents per minute. This is why it is often infuriatingly difficult to call a 902, 906 etc number from VOIP, a mobile, from abroad etc and where Chris' suggestion is very useful. Telefónica cannot charge a non-licensed carrier or collect monies from them so they simply do not allow the call through. 

In the UK there has been an outcry about these numbers and a whole "Say no to 0870" campaign has evolved. In Scotland, for example, if ScotPower had an 0845 number EVERYBODY would have to pay to make the call and ScotPower would get a huge revenue ...... even though a percentage COULD have called free to a 0141 Glasgow or 0131 Edinburgh number. In Spain it has been more muted ....why would a Spaniard make a call when he could stroll down to the office, stand in a long cue, pay c.a.s.h. to his sister behind the counter and then pop next door for a cortado with Pedro! 

There are other features and benefits (and disadvantages!) of NGN numbers - I should know as I was National Sales Manager for C&W before I came to Spain - but this covers the current question. 

HTH


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## chris(madrid) (Mar 23, 2008)

SteveHall said:


> ...why would a Spaniard make a call when he could stroll down to the office, stand in a long cue, pay c.a.s.h. to his sister behind the counter and then pop next door for a cortado with Pedro!


I dunno - why? - & when in Rome...........


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