http://www.vnunet.com/computing/news/2194334/uk-ignores-change-0870

<<
Businesses may be ill-prepared for the approaching change to 0870 numbers, according to a survey from BT.

Of the 100 senior IT personnel questioned, 29 per cent were unaware of the Ofcom deadline of 1 January 2008, after which the rate for phoning 0870 numbers must not exceed the standard for UK landlines, unless the caller is informed otherwise.

[...]

Paul Brewer, head of customer relationship management for BT, says businesses may be leaving it too late to handle the change effectively.

'Ignoring the deadline is a dangerous strategy,' he said.

'Revenues from existing 0870 numbers are going to vanish and organisations need to rethink their customer relationship management strategies in light of this. That does not happen overnight.'

[...]
>>

idb wrote on Jul 17^th, 2007 at 11:38pm:

Revenues from existing 0870 numbers are going to vanish and organisations need to rethink their customer relationship management strategies in light of this. That does not happen overnight.'

Personally I suspect that the whole bally lot apart from the BBC and the DVLA (who are under too much public pressure to dare to do so) will move to ICSTIS's equally lax 0871 regulatory regime at an even higher 10p per minute as of 1st Feb 2008.

Well done Ofcom - yet again your actions have made the position even worse for the UK citizen consumer.

Not much time left.  Pull the other one BT as we all know these numbers can be changed to 0871 and a message stuck on the old 0870 telling people to call the 0871 virtually overnight.  And we all know Sky is going to keep quiet about what it is doing until virtually the very last day so there is no time for Ofcom to do anything about the public howls of protest about these calls now costing even more money than before.

And all the while the useless Messrs Carter, Meek, Williams and Peacock will continue to make yet further serene meteoric salary progress in the next phase of their conscienceless careers of professional double talk.