what is carrier pre-selection

Currently, organisations that take their telephone line from incumbents, such as BT, need to dial three or four-digit access code to route calls to their chosen telephone carrier. This is known as 'indirect access'.

What Carrier Pre-Selection (CPS) does is give customers the option to route all calls of a particular type (e.g. national calls) to the carrier of their choice, without having to dial an access code.

So what!
Carrier Pre-Selection allows you to benefit from voice services available from alternative carriers without the inconvenience of dialling extra digits, either manually or by using or adapting Customer Premises Equipment, giving you the chance to move seamlessly to a carrier offering a service that is right for you, such as The Telecom Broker.

This initiative allows alternative carriers, those other than BT, to compete more effectively for calls, providing you with greater choice and increasing pressure for more competitive prices.

CPS can now be used to get the most for your money on all calls including local, national, international, calls to mobiles, special tariffs calls ( e.g. Freefone, Lo-call, National Rate and Premium Rate) , personal numbers and paging.

BT will still own, be responsible for (i.e. faults and repairs) and bill you for the physical phone line that carries your call traffic. You will keep your existing phone number/s, but will simply receive a separate bill for call charges from The Telecom Broker.

How does it work?
Carrier Pre-Selection uses network access technology, so that call traffic originating from your site will be routed to your chosen network carrier with no need for prefix codes. The 'selection' of the preferred network carrier is done automatically at point of entry (the local exchange).

Certain types of calls are not carried via CPS as they are BT services and included in the line rental charges. These include calls to emergency numbers, operator assistance, directory enquiries and number ranges used for flat internet access (i.e. those starting with 0844, 0808). You will continue to have access to these services and any charges will appear on your BT bill.