> I've heard that -- but the thing that wondered me is how I would know
> that a number I am calling is a cell phone.   It seems fair to charge
> caller -- but only if it was an informed choice.
 
No, it is not fair.
 
I have no clue where the party is which I'm calling, which is the whole
idea of going-cellular. In Europe, with it's multi-country environment,
when I reach someone else who happens to have roamed to another country I
am not supposed to be aware of the where-abouts of the party which I'm
calling.
 
If the party I called is roaming "internationally" and leaves the
phone switched-on then it is this party's choice to remain reachable even
if he/she sits on Red Square admiring Lenin's Mausoleum instead of having a
beer in front of Manneken Pis in Brussels.
 
So when I dial that person's cellular number within this country then I pay
the national rate for calling a cell-phone, it's the callee who will be
charged for the Brussels-Moscow stretch.
 
I think it makes perfect sense.
 
You, and many overthere, "again" look at this from a "one
country" environment ... give some thought on the aspect
"international" of the cell-phone business.
 
> MVDV> Cell phones have distinctive numbers, so they are easily
> MVDV> recognised. here (netherlands) they all start with 06.
 
> I saw David Drummond say the same thing.   Does the rest of the number
> look like a land line number?
 
In Belgium we have a 4 digit areacode for cell-phones ... "04xx"
then 6 more digits, so you always need to dial 10 digits. For a landline
there are always 9 digits.
 
There are also landlines starting with 04 but they'll have 9 digits in total as well.
 
 \%/{at}rd 

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