In September 1993, Cellnet made a significant revision to the Primetime tariff – The removal of the M25 premium.
Primetime
Cellnet’s Primetime tariff is really where it all started. It was the main business tarfidd and had the most penetration in the market.
The M25 premium used to mean that callers from within the M25 paid more to make a call than those outside.
So from 10pm until 8am Monday to Saturday (and all day Sunday) calls would cost a mere 10p per minute (ex VAT).
Outside of those times, ie 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday calls were 25p per minute (ex VAT).
Don’t forget in those days you were billed for the first minute and then every 30 seconds thereafter.
Citytime
Citytime was Cellnet’s national tariff which offered business users lower call charges for calls made in London and the M25 area.
So, the charging bands went like this:
From 10pm to 8am Monday to Saturday (and all day Sunday) calls were 10p per minute (ex VAT)
Between 8am and 10pm Monday to Saturday calls were 20p per minute from within the M25 area to anywhere in the UK AND;
50p per minute outside of the M25 area to anywhere in the UK
Lifetime
Lifetime was launched in 1992 by Cellnet in response to market research that clearly showed more people would use mobile telephony if the price was right.
The monthly line rental was £15 (including VAT).
Calls were charged like this:
7pm to 8am Monday – Friday (and all weekend) 20p per minute (including VAT) from anywhere in the UK to anywhere in the UK
8am – 7pm Monday – Friday 50p per minute from anywhere in the UK to anywhere in the UK
