Hannah Mulberry's dashboard

Yes you are correct, the whole thing is a ridiculous sham. Basically Manx Telecom is based in the Isle of Man and like many Manx Businesses benefits from a government backed monopoly with its Telecommunications facilities. The legal loop hole or 'excuse' is that the Isle of Man is used as a testing ground for G3, G4 and up until a few years ago, no mobile network could even be accessed on the island other than Manx Telecom. However rules have been relaxed in the Isle of Man, but unfortunately UK phone companies such as O2, T-Mobile, 3, Orange and Vodaphone etc. still treat the Isle of Man - Part of the British Isles and just 80 miles from Liverpool, as an 'International Jurisdiction'.

They claim that all call made to and particularly from the Isle of Man (Which also links to Guernsey's phone Network which is not international) is classed as an international call and charged at international rate. Further, they refuse to recognize the significance of the UK connection that the Isle of Man has and will not allow calls made from there to be included in peoples free minutes. Basically if you have a contract with the above companies your free minutes are pointless.

The mobile phone companies blame the Isle of Man and the Isle of Man say that its up to the phone networks how they operate thier tariffs. Either way many companies such as chat lines etc. have recognized the benefits of deceiving customers with the 07624 code so that calls can be charged at international rate. Further, an agreement with the Isle of Man government has been arranged with these companies to ensure that they receive the full cost of the call, less Manx Telecoms local rate Hence the reason why companies use the facility. Clearly showing that Manx Telecom and the Isle of Man government do have sway over the pricing structure of calls.

As the Isle of Man is outside UK control, the policy is left to the the MHK's (Manx MP's) to police and investigate. Unfortunately and we go back to the start of this piece. Manx Telecom is government regulated. That is to say that its government has its finger in the pie of the profits from the Tax that the company makes. Coupled with the lure of a unique pricing policy for unscupulous businesses to exploit, it offers and attractive money making scheme at the expense of both the UK and its own Islands population.