Origin-Based Surcharges on Calls to UK Numbers

Question

Why do I see additional charges when calling UK numbers from an international destination?

Applies To

• International Calls
• UK Numbers
• Mobile Numbers
• Billing

Answer

In spring 2021, the regulatory organization overseeing communications services in the UK announced several changes which affect the pricing of calls from abroad to UK numbers, enabling global carriers to apply surcharges on some international calls.

In response to these changes, effective 1 August 2021, Vonage is passing on these surcharges for some international voice calls terminating in the UK.

Surcharges rates are differ based on terminating destination:

• Voice calls from specific international locations to UK mobile numbers
• Voice calls from specific international locations to UK geographic areas
• Pricing band depends upon where the call originates from. To avoid surcharges on your international calls, ensure you are using a Vonage number as the call origin, from one of the Band 1 countries.

Additional Information

While Vonage will attempt to locate and update missing or incorrect numbers, when the terminating number is missing, unknown, or incorrect, the highest-price band will be applied.

Surcharges are subject to change. In the event of a surcharge change, users will be notified.

Surcharges are included in the outbound call rate, establishing a different rate depending on the origination band.. Origin-based rates are billed per second and applied at a per-minute rate.

See the tables below for origin-based rates. To locate the pricing band for a particular call origin, locate the originating country and prefix. To determine the per-minute charge, locate the band to see the rates for numbers terminating to UK geographic locations and UK numbers.

Table 1: Rate by Band (Per-Minute)

Table 2: Originating Country and Corresponding Band