That affected my STD area ages ago , I thought it was a national policy at first , but apparently it only affected certain STD codes ( initially at least ), I don’t know if it’s been nationally implemented or if you just so happen to be in one of the STD areas used in the trial, but really, what’s the problem ?, if you use a mobile you have always had to dial the full number , other network providers were never under an obligation to have short codes or not having to dial the full number , if they followed what BT did was a commercial decision, with BT it was a legacy of the ‘linked number scheme’, and the way older telephone exchanges worked.
There is no such thing as a local call from a pricing point of view, TBH, given the huge reduction in the number and duration of calls as a whole , it’s a bit of a non issue , many never use the landline phone to make calls , ever..and if it’s occasionally used, typing in 5 extra digits for the odd ‘local’ isn’t a massive inconvenience anyway.
