Is this site really necessary? Don't 'free' ISPs kill your argument? Unmetered local calls will never happen But electricity and gas are metered The problem is the cost of PCs The network can't cope! Dial 999 for unmetered Metered local call charges are reasonable

Why should I pay for someone else's calls? Computer gamers will cause trouble ISP charges would replace phone charges An American Mythbuster Unmetered calls would trouble ISPs People on low incomes would be affected Unmetered calls would favour the South-East

Unmetered local calls would favour the South-East 'Local' means vastly different numbers of people depending on where you are in the United Kingdom. In London 'local' applies to about ten million people whereas, in north-west Scotland, it applies to only a few thousand. This difference is unfair enough with metered calls; with unmetered calls it would be worse. As it turns out the UK tariff structure (local, regional and national calls) is starting to break down. Cable and Wireless Communications' latest tariffs make the cheapest calls not local but non-geographic (0345, 0645, 0845); you can call a non-geographic number for the same rate whether you are in Thurso or in Truro. This is probably only the first shot of a long war, and there has been speculation that the three-tier structure may fall soon and be replaced with a single tier. Secondly, the current tariff structure has something less broad-brush which could replace it: postcodes - which billing systems, by definition, know for each customer. For example, unmetered calls in London could be restricted to adjacent postcodes. This is not as outlandish as it seems: in New York unmetered local calls are restricted to your area code and the two (out of five) which abut it.