Interesting phone package

[JimJams]

'Primus Line' - 28.90 € TTC per month INCLUDING your France Telecom line rental PLUS unlimited landline calls to FRANCE, UK and USA. 

http://www.as24telecom.com/

 

[AnOther]

But according to their FAQ

"Will I still have to pay France Telecom a two monthly abonnement (line rental)?    Yes.  At present the two monthly abonnement is 32.00€.  The only exception is if you live in a major city, then your Internet ISP may be able to offer you an alternative.  More and more this is being offered by other providers, but most of the time it is called ‘Dégroupé Partial’ which means that you are still using France Telecom’s equipment in your local exchange.  It just means your ISP has an arrangement with France Telecom.  (See my ‘How to Connect to Broadband ADSL’ page)."

So which is it then ?

[JimJams]

Hi ErnieY. I think you were looking under "Primus Particulier" FAQs; see the FAQs under "Primus Line".

 

NOW just pay one bill to Primus and receive no more France Telecom bills!  You will see all your calls on your monthly Primus itemised bill. In reality you are still connected to France Telecom, but no longer a customer of France Telecom and we handle all your requests, plus you benefit from quality unlimited landline calls to the UK, France and the USA from the Primus Telecom network - all for just 28.90 € TTC.   We can also set up new phone line connections, so please tell your friends who are moving here to France or moving house.  We will arrange everything!   This offer uses the normal landline telephone network, not calls via the Internet using an Orange Livebox, Neufbox, Alicebox, Freebox, Teleconnect and other boxes.  

28.90 € per month, including TVA.  ‘Primus Line’ includes your line rental and unlimited landline calls to the UK, USA (all US mobile calls are charged as landline calls) and France.  UK mobile calls are charged extra at a very competitive price of 27 cents per minute with a 10 cent connection fee - this is below the amount charged by most operators.    French 08 and 09 series numbers and short numbers such as indigo, azur, autre opérateur and services audiotel are not included and will appear on your Primus bill.  UK 08 numbers can also be dialled - see below. 

There is a six month minimum contract, but NO joining or cancellation fees.  Please note it will take France Telecom a minimum of 2 weeks to switch your line to ‘Primus Line’ from the day we receive your signed application form. If you wish to cancel your account and return to France Telecom, we will need a minimum of two weeks’ notice.  No charge for cancellation will be applied outside of the 6 month minimum.

Your Internet access, analogue or ADSL Broadband, is not affected in anyway whatsoever and is still routed to your existing Internet provider, whoever you are connected to. In case of problems with your Internet access,  after contacting your Internet provider, if they believe the fault concerns your normal telephone line you will need to contact us and NOT France Telecom. 

Primus allows you to dial UK Free/Premium numbers such as 0800, 0870, 0871 and 0845 series numbers, which are often blocked by overseas operators.  All 08 UK numbers are charged at 27.5 cents with a connection fee of 10 cents.  UK 09 series numbers are definitely not able to be dialled outside of the UK.  However, the whole 08 UK process is very complicated and some numbers are not accessible for technical reasons as these UK numbers are very expensive to overseas operators, if you have to dial a UK 08 number, I suggest you ask your recipient to give you a normal area number to ring on.  There is a very useful Internet site with alternative geographical numbers to the 08 UK series numbers at www.saynoto0870.com, this would allow you to then ring within the ’Primus Line’ package at no cost. 

Monthly itemised billing.  Billing may be sent to a UK address if you prefer.  Basic email billing on request.   If you join in the middle of a month the following month's bill will show a pro rata amount for your calls made from the previous month, plus the current month’s amount.

Payment is by French Bank Direct Debit (prélèvement) which must include a printed RIB (relevé d’identité bancaire) from your bank. Credit cards or cheques are not accepted.  The direct debit authorisation will be sent to your bank on the 5th of the month and your bank will debit your account around the 8th of each month.  If your direct debit fails for any reason, Primus may well levy a small charge the following month, to cover the bank charges to them of a rejected direct debit.

If you are a new customer of Primus, we will provide you with a special number to ring that will tell you when you are connected to Primus Telecom.  This message is in both French and English.  Incidentally, France Telecom is the only body able to touch your line and we are dependant, like all Telecom companies, for them to change your connection to Primus Telecom.

All ‘non-unlimited calls’ are charged by the second from the first second.

‘Primus Line’ is a présélection service.  That is to say you dial as you do at present and the system is totally invisible to you.  The quality and reliability of Primus is the same as France Telecom.  Before you sign up to ‘Primus Line,’ please tell us if you have a France Telecom forfait (deal) and we will send you a letter to cancel it, otherwise France Telecom may continue to charge you for this. This letter must be sent by 'lettre recommandée avec accusé de réception,’ available from La Poste.  If you are on preselection with another operator, then you will need to cancel this by the same method. We can send you a letter to forward onto them.

You will need to fill out and return to us an 'Options' form, which you need to choose such items as 'answerphone' transfer of call etc, which you wish to have installed on your telephone.

 

[AnOther]

Yes, you're right JJ, I misread it, apologies.

It's stil not much of a bargain as far as I'm concerned though.

I pay FT €16/mth and an additional €5/mth to my ISP, Teleconnect, for unlimited calls to UK, Ireland, and Australia, and to both mobile and fixed lines in the USA and Canada. Calls within France are 0.01 for local and 0.03 for national. We tend to make very few French calls so say €25/mth all in.

I guess therefore I could be around €6/mth or so better off with AS24 but l don't think I'd be willing to give up the comfort blanket of the FT line for that small amount.

Thanks for posting it anyway,