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For Emergency Services in Australia
(Police, Fire and Ambulance) use the 000
telephone number
Phoning Australia from the UK
International Dialling Codes to Australia can be checked at:
http://www.timeanddate.com
The normal dialling code from the UK to various parts of Australia would be:
- Sydney and NSW : 00 61 2 xxxx xxxx (Some parts of Southern New South
Wales will use the 03 area code)
- Canberra and ACT : 00 61 2 xxxx xxxx
- Melbourne and Victoria : 00 61 3 xxxx xxxx (Some parts of Northern
Victoria will use the 02 area code)
- Brisbane and QLD : 00 61 7 xxxx xxxx
- Perth, WA : 00 61 8 xxxx xxxx
- Adelaide and SA : 00 61 8 xxxx xxxx
- Hobart and TAS : 00 61 3 xxxx xxxx
- Darwin and NT : 00 61 8 xxxx xxxx
Local Calls in Australia are untimed,
and can cost between 15c and about 35c per call, but it is worth checking on
what is classed as local in your area.
- 1800 numbers are free calls when dialled from
anywhere within Australia.
- 1300 numbers are charged at the local call rate when
dialled from anywhere within Australia.
- 1900 numbers are premium numbers and can be as much as $5.00 per minute.
International calls can be made using
one of many different Pre-Paid Phone cards available.
Call Waiting
When you are on the phone with another
call, and someone else rings you, they do not always get the engaged tone, the
phone may ring, but YOU should hear a beeping tone (2 beeps every 5 seconds) to
advise you that you have a 2nd call. You then have the option to put the
first call on hold, and take the 2nd call, and then revert back to the 1st call
after that one ends.
If your line is used for dial up internet, it
is best to set up call waiting cancellation, for the duration of that internet
session, so that the caller gets the engaged tone, and your internet session
isn't interrupted. Information on call waiting from
Telstra
Broadband Internet Telephone Systems (VOIP)
have helped to bring down the cost of telephone calls in Australia and
internationally. Untimed calls between the Major Cities can down be made
for as little as 10 cents UNTIMED. The following are examples of companies
providing these services:
- Aanet -
- Engine -
With National calls at 10cents untimed, and International calls from 3.5c per
minute, OR EVEN FREE TO THE UK ON ONE PLAN, you just buy the voice box, attach it to your Broadband router and pay a
monthly fee. You can get the $29.95 pm option which gives $25 worth of
international calls FREE. Another option is the $9.95 per month, with no
free calls. You can hook
any phone up to this voice box, I just bought a Telstra Cordless Phone for $53
and it has two handsets. The Voice box cost me $149, but has a $100 cash
back offer until 31.1.06
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Telephone Providers
- Phone
Choice is Australia's most established and comprehensive site for all your
Telecommunications needs. You will find independent, unbiased advice and
solutions.
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Mobile Select - search through most of the major Australian mobile service
providers to find the mobile phone and plan that's just right for you
The Main Land Line Telephone Providers in Australia are:
Telstra
is the main provider of Landline Telephone services
A common plan is the "HomeLine Plus"
Monthly Line Rental $29.95
Local Calls (per call) 17.5c (Local calls are untimed)
You can get their "HomeLine Budget" It is cheaper rental, but
with higher call
cost.
Monthly Line Rental $18.50
Local Calls (per call) 30.0c (Local calls are untimed)
Optus
options are:
You will be able to connect either directly to the
Optus cable network, or to the Telstra network with billing by Optus.
They seem to have three Line Rental/Call Cost options:
Monthly Line rental of $35.95 with local call cost 15c
Monthly Line rental of $31.95 with local call cost 22c
Monthly Line rental of $24.95 with local call cost 30c
They may have more options.......... look at their website
Primus
seem to have three main Plans with Line Rentals of:
$31.45 with local call cost of 15c
$29.95 with local call cost of 16.5c
$27.40 with local call cost of 19c
AAPT
have a few plans,
Anytime Plus, being one of them at
$29.95 per month Phone line rental with 17.5c Local calls
They also have what they call "Homechat" plans, where you can pay a certain
amount each month which allows a higher value of calls.
They also have their $59 cap, which allows unlimited overseas calls to certain
countries, UK included.
Reading the website they also seem to do a $44.95 per month line rental that
allows free local calls. Again, check the website to get accurate details.
DigiPlus is a smaller operator, and a few
options are shown here:
Value Plan
$27.95 per month Phone line rental with
16.5c Local calls
HomeNet
$32.95 per month Phone line rental with
16.5c Local calls
Dial-up Internet with
20MB downloads included
MaxValue
$49.95 per month Phone line rental with
50 FREE Local calls
then further locals calls at
16c each and
Unlimited Dial-up Internet
Mobile Phone Providers
UK Mobile Phones
Most UK Mobile phones will work in Australia,
you just need to ensure they are unlocked.
Links
Testing your phone line: (No guarantees on these, nor any idea on what any may
cost)
If you dial 1272 2123 you will hear confirmation of your Telephone Number.
If you dial 127 11 you will hear confirmation of which service provider is
billing you for long distance calls.
1800 801 920 will tell you your own number
127 11 will tell you your carrier
You can dial 1272 2123 on your mobile.
You can also use 1272 2199 for ring back to test the line.
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