Supporters of Samantha Barks are being strongly advised to use their fixed line, rather than mobile phones, when casting their votes for Saturday evening's final of 'I'd Do Anything'.

Manx Telecom is again apologising for the mobile phone network problems during voting last weekend, but says by far and away the greatest number of votes came from phones in people's homes and places of work.

It says its fixed line network can handle around 300 simultaneous calls a second, or a million an hour, which means it should have more than enough capacity in its connection to the United Kingdom.

Manx Telecom is stressing the importance of Saturday evening's vote, and the fact it wants to do the best for Sam and the Isle of Man.

It says, the most cost effective way to get behind her is to make calls to the competition hotline through its fixed line network.

Engaged tones, it says, are likely to mean congestion at British Telecom's end, and if that happens customers are advised to keep trying.

The three finalists come from what MT calls the same broad geographical area.

Because of this, it says, BT will be switching on a facility called 'Call Gapping' to help cope with the demand, which could lead to frustration.

Again, Manx Telecom says any engaged tone is likely to be from the UK and not the Isle of Man, and callers need to keep trying.