The German regulator lists different numbering prefixes here. You will see that 0180 are Shared Cost-Services and appear to be like our 084/087 numbers, being premium rate in all but name. The website www.0180.info (translated into English with Google here) lists alternative numbers for these numbers like we do for UK's 084/087 numbers.

"Shared Cost Service" is a better description than what UK CP/OCP's use because at least from the naming you can kindof tell it's a premium rate number.  Ideally, it should state it is premium rate but at least they don't hide behind the 'local/national' PR crap that UK CP/OCP's still continue to use.

I also note that an identifier exists after the 0180 x.  Where 'x' has the key:-

1  Time dependant tariff 1
2  Fixed tariff 1
3  Time dependant tariff 2
4  Fixed tariff 2
5  Time dependant tariff 3

So at least to a certain degree they're a bit more organised than Ofcom and it's predecessor, Oftel.

This is indeed good news. There should be a webring of sites like that and this one, holding virtual hands across Europe, waving virtual 1-finger salutes at the anti-competitive rash of premium numbers. But where are the French, the Dutch, the Spanish etc?!

=CM= wrote on Dec 11^th, 2006 at 3:57pm:

This is indeed good news. There should be a webring of sites like that and this one, holding virtual hands across Europe, waving virtual 1-finger salutes at the anti-competitive rash of premium numbers. But where are the French, the Dutch, the Spanish etc?!

Most other EU countries have proper premium rate numbers where people know they are paying for the service they use by calling the number in question (eg sex chat lines and competition voting lines) but I'm not so sure they all have covert premium rate numbers that pretend to be standard local and national rate calls to callers while in fact being lower cost premium rate revenue sharing numbers.  I think that is entirely an OFTEL and Ofcom permitted invention in cunning connivance with BT and the call centre industry at large.

The voting lines used for the Eurovision Song Contest provide a general EU wide indicator of what is going on elsewhere.  Also so far as I can recall the UK did use a proper 09 premium rate voting structure for its Eurovision voting lines this year.

NGMsGhost wrote on Dec 11^th, 2006 at 6:38pm:

The voting lines used for the Eurovision Song Contest provide a general EU wide indicator of what is going on elsewhere.  Also so far as I can recall the UK did use a proper 09 premium rate voting structure for its Eurovision voting lines this year.

Slightly off topic, for which I apologise, but the UK greed is highlighted when everyone seems proud that The Children in Need PRS number gave 70odd p in every pound to CiN. And the other 20odd p?
Really sh*tty. Sorry >:( Ah, shoddy...

NGMsGhost wrote on Dec 11^th, 2006 at 6:38pm:

I'm not so sure they all have covert premium rate numbers that pretend to be standard local and national rate calls to callers while in fact being lower cost premium rate revenue sharing numbers.

Wasn't it mentioned a long time ago that we're not the only country to have covert premium rate numbers?  The difference obviously is whether or not, as you say, they are described as local/national rate or if they have their own name like the German's do!

NGMsGhost wrote on Dec 11^th, 2006 at 6:38pm:

Most other EU countries have proper premium rate numbers where people know they are paying for the service they use by calling the number in question (eg sex chat lines and competition voting lines) but I'm not so sure they all have covert premium rate numbers that pretend to be standard local and national rate calls to callers while in fact being lower cost premium rate revenue sharing numbers. ....

I have experience of France where there are "local" (rate) numbers but the market has moved on just as in the UK so that real local/national landlines are close to free - especially with their 25M broadband offerings. The "service numbers" (euphanism) stay at a higher cost while landlines plummet in cost, leaving "local" "national" as empty tags to distract.

Experience of Holland: those legendarily-tight people appear to have been well fooled with wholesale swallowing of use of "service nummers". Hardly any company has a genuine landline number anymore.

=CM= wrote on Dec 12^th, 2006 at 10:48am:

Experience of Holland: those legendarily-tight people appear to have been well fooled with wholesale swallowing of use of "service nummers". Hardly any company has a genuine landline number anymore.

Its clearly an EU wide plot at a very deep level amongst senior executives in the telecoms industry to protect their revenue stream while giving away apparently cheap calls to residential customers (but with expensive ripoff fixed phone line rental there is no genuine competition on) who hardly make any calls on average by comparison to business.  Seems to me the EU commission should be taking a much greater interest in its Misleading Advertising Directive generally not being enforced over this issue.