I guess I am beginning to feel more than a little paranoid about the apparent spread of 0870 (and 0845) numbers in the UK. I realise that this site is doing a fantastic job, and I read with glee the comment from DVLA demanding you all stop calling their geographic switchboard! Wonderful! "Stick it up 'em, Mr Mannering....!" 

However, yesterday I was attempting to book a short trip to Europe whilst on holiday in the UK. Every UK travel site I visited had a 0870 number. Yep - every single one (and I must have looked at a dozen or so). In addition, I subscribe to a couple of UK magazines which I get delivered here in the US. I note that probably 80 to 85% of the advertisers have a 0870 number - with absolutely no mention of an alternative geographic number.

So just how pervasive is this scam? Are we attempting to 'stick our finger in the dyke'? Are the big guns of BT aligned against us? Does anyone have any idea just how much they are creaming from this gigantic - and monopolistic - scam? (I seem to remember some enormous figure being mentioned in this or another site, but I can't recall how much it was). Does ANYONE in the UK have a geographic number any more? 

And - last but not least, does anyone have any idea of how many 0870 numbers are in use - and what the current uptake rate of them is? It would make interesting - and depressing - reading, I'm sure....

Or am I just being overly pessimistic?