You should be able to use the getFrom
method to get the starting number of the current pages results. So instead of setting $i = 1;
you should be able to do this.
<?php $i = $telephone->getFrom(); ?>
In Laravel 3 there is no getFrom
method so you need to calculate it manually.
<?php $i = ($telephone->page - 1) * $telephone->per_page + 1; ?>