The telephone services are provided by a number of public companies including British Telecom, Cable and Wireless and ACC. The Post Office hold telephone directories for the area including the Yellow Pages directory, which lists commercial organisations and various services.

There are payphones available in public places as well as phonecard payphones. Do remember that making telephone calls, particularly long distance calls, can be expensive.

Telephone calls to British numbers are less costly after 6.00pm and at the weekend. If you use a private telephone (belonging to, say, your landlord or landlady), it is advisable to offer the approximate payment to the owner or to make a transfer charge call whereby the person to whom you are telephoning will have to pay (see overleaf).

There are two rates for mainland calls - the Standard rate between 8.00am and 6.00pm and the Cheap rate from 6.00pm to 8.00am.

International Direct Dialling
You can dial direct to over 180 countries from the UK. Cheap rate periods for direct dialled calls to Europe and North America are between 6.00pm and 8.00am everyday. See the information pages at the front of a telephone book for details of the cheapest times to phone any other country.

00 + Country code + Area code (minus initial 0 or 9) + local number.

Transfer costs/Reversed charges
It is possible to transfer the cost of a phone call so that the person you are phoning pays. To make a reversed charge call, simply dial 155 for the UK International Operator and ask for a reversed charge call. The person you are calling must be willing to accept the charge.

Public Payphones
Dialling instructions can be found on most public payphones. Standard payphones accept 10p, 20p, 50p and £1 coins. You would be well advised to use phonecard payphones for international calls. These accept a prepaid card (available in units of £1 to £20) which can be bought from Post Offices, newsagents and other shops displaying the green phonecard sign.

Phone calls within the UK
Most numbers within the UK have an area code (starting with 01) and then a local number. The codes for London are 0207 and 0208.

Mobile Phones

Mobile phones are very common in UK and the packages available are

Pay-monthly plans: You sign a contract (12 month contract) with a mobile phone network or a service provider. You choose a tariff (a fee structure) from a range of choices offered by the network. The network or service provider bills you monthly for your calls and services.

Pre-paid plans: You sign a contract with a network or a service provider and pay for a minimum of 12 months' service in advance, at a cheaper rate than for monthly plans. If you use the phone more than the agreed amount, the network or service provider bills you monthly for the extra time/calls.

Pay-as-you-go plans: You buy credit (talking time) in advance, either direct from the network or in the form of vouchers. You use the phone until the credit runs out, and then you buy more credit. No contracts or bills are involved.

The major mobile operators are O2, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange. Receiving calls on mobiles are free in UK, whereas making calls from a mobile and to a mobile is very expensive

If you have a mobile phone in India, carry the handset to UK (don't forget the adapter), mostly Indian mobiles (expect for reliance) are compatible with UK mobile phone operators.

Useful numbers:

International Operator Assistance 155
Directory enquiries (UK and Irish Republic) 118 118
International Directory Enquiries 153
Emergency Services (Ambulance, Police, Fire) 999