UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - International Direct Dialling (IDD) provision throughout the UK

emeritus · 25th Aug 2020, 1:51 pm

In the late 1980's an Australian colleague working in the UK mentioned that he made his calls back home via a cable circuit rather than by satellite to avoid satellite's annoying delay. I don't recall if this involved going via the operator or whether there was a special dialling code. I think the business calls to the US that I dialled myself in the early 1990's must have gone via satellite, as the delay sometimes made conversation awkward when both parties started speaking at the same time after having had to allow time in case the other hadn't finished speaking. By 2000 this problem had gone away, no doubt due to the use of fibre for transatlantic calls.

25th Aug 2020, 1:51 pm	#5
emeritus Dekatron Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK. Posts: 5,339	Re: International Direct Dialling (IDD) provision throughout the UK In the late 1980's an Australian colleague working in the UK mentioned that he made his calls back home via a cable circuit rather than by satellite to avoid satellite's annoying delay. I don't recall if this involved going via the operator or whether there was a special dialling code. I think the business calls to the US that I dialled myself in the early 1990's must have gone via satellite, as the delay sometimes made conversation awkward when both parties started speaking at the same time after having had to allow time in case the other hadn't finished speaking. By 2000 this problem had gone away, no doubt due to the use of fibre for transatlantic calls.