Philippe Deleye has brought this to us :[color=blue]
> "Jupiter" <Jupiter@shotmail.com> schreef in bericht
> news:itedt2d0hksols5lf1jrof2lchs2an92pa@4ax.com...
>[color=green]
>> You're quite right about the 0049 - my typing error!
>> We've established that the number works fine within Germany. He
>> arranged calls from relatives in Wurzen and Leipzig. No problems at
>> all and they got charged the local rate for 0801. The number is not
>> useable from outside Germany but that's not a problem to him.
>> BTW, I have called him from Sipgate with his Sipgate ID several times
>> and not had to use the full PSTN number.[/color]
>
> non geographical (german) Sipgate numbers used to start with +49 1801 555 xxx
> xxxx
> - these numbers can be dialed from within Germany from most landlines
> (Telekom), but NOT from ALL providers !!!
> - these numbers are not at local rate, but can be sometimes expensive
> depending the provider or the price plan of the caller.
> - these numbers can usually be dialed from abroad, therefore NOT TRUE that it
> is not useable from outside Germany
> - you can apply for local german numbers with Sipgate, but there is a tough
> check: Name, Date of birth and adress need to match exactely with the entry
> in the "Shufa" Database
> (Shufa is a database containing the names of EVERY person who has opened a
> German account (Bank account, Visa, etc...)
> If the name you are using (incl. date of birth and complete adress) to
> register does not exactly match, then your request for a german geographical
> number gets denied.[/color]

Erm, no it doesn't - at least it didn't with me. Admittedly, I googled
for an address that had an occupant with the same surname as mine,
however, even if it asked for birthdate during the sign up (I can't
remember that it did) It's very unlikely that this person in Wuppertal
has the same name & birthdate as me.