Source: http://business.scotsman.com/banking.cfm?id=764772005

BT IS lobbying the media regulator Ofcom to scrap 0845 and 0870 numbers over claims that the supposedly low-rate prefixes are being used to rip off consumers.

Ian Livingston, the telecoms giant's retail chief executive, says the prices charged by rival operators for dialling the numbers can be six times more than the regulated prices charged by BT.

The 0870 national rate and 0845 local rate numbers are also used by a number of banks and credit card suppliers, including HBOS, Abbey, HSBC and Barclaycard.

The companies argue that the system allows them to advertise a single number without relying on local STD codes and does away with engaged lines, making it easier for customers, but Livingston says it also allows companies to skim a profit from customer helplines.

Although scrapping the numbers would cost BT money, ditching the numbers is now one of its top priorities in discussions with the regulator - alongside the need to clamp down on the mis-selling of telephone services.

Livingston said: "You have different providers offering wildly different prices for these numbers and the consumer no longer has any idea what the charges are or where that money goes.

"Ideally these numbers should just be swept away. Or if that can't be done, the regulator should insist that all operators charge exactly the same price for these numbers, as they do for a local or national call.

"I don't think the customer appreciates having to pay to use these numbers. I know people tend to look for the geographic number they can call instead of an 0870 or 0845 number because then they know what they are paying. [...]

"You have different providers offering wildly different prices for these numbers..."

Hmmmm... seems to me that BT would love NGN if they had their old monopoly back; but what really upsets them is that their present competition can charge more (sometimes a lot more) for NGN then they can.

Thus their competitors are making more profit then they - BT - are. It's this that's annoying them; not some "concern" for the consumer.

The "confusion" that the consumer experiences with different telcos charging different rates for NGN is nothing to the rip-off they are experiencing at having to call NGNs in the first place.

Still - it's some progress of the head honcho at BT is calling for them to be scrapped.

wrote on Jul 10^th, 2005 at 1:38am:

...Hmmmm... seems to me that BT would love NGN if they had their old monopoly back; but what really upsets them is that their present competition can charge more (sometimes a lot more) for NGN then they can. Thus their competitors are making more profit then they - BT - are. It's this that's annoying them; not some "concern" for the consumer....

I believe that BT still get some money even if calling an 0870 company from a Telewest line.  This is because most (if not all) calls have to, at some point, go through onto BT lines.  It is because of this that companies like Telewest have to charge more to gain a profit.  BT therefore still benefits directly or indirectly.  BT would of course prefer to be the sole provider of these calls and/or not have their revenue limited by OfCOM.

Reading that article though, I noticed this:-

Quote:

He is also complaining to Ofcom about the charge structure for making fixed line to mobile calls, where BT has to pass 80%-plus of the call charge on to a mobile company. He said: "The way BT is regulated means we can't include these numbers in any call bundles we offer, which irritates and confuses people.

That to me reads that because BT have to charge a certain price (and 80% of this is passed onto the networks) then this obviously is passed onto us customers by the increase in the cost of the call.

I for one thought to a certain degree they were charging this price mostly to gain profit and nothing more.  It would appear I thought wrong and because BT have to charge so much and pass some of this cost to the terminating network then that's why we have such high cost of ringing a mobile from a landline.

I have yet to see OfCOM do something for us!

wrote on Jul 10^th, 2005 at 8:45am:

That to me reads that because BT have to charge a certain price (and 80% of this is passed onto the networks) then this obviously is passed onto us customers by the increase in the cost of the call.

My understanding is that BT have to charge (on non-discounted tariffs) the same rate as local and national calls. From that they have to pass on the majority (80%) of the call costs. The other 20% is their payment for carrying the call.

The 80%, lets call it £x, goes to the telco providing the NGN. Thus, the "profit" aspect, as you put it, goes to the NGN provider.

Looking at it the other way round, other originating telcos have to pay (or in practice have to pay) the NGN provider £x. Of course, they have to add their charge for carrying the call aswell.

The problem is that if NGN providers don't get their £x, then they receive nothing for their service, because they may well not get anything from their client.