http://www.icstis.org.uk/pdfs_news/PhonepayPlus_Advisory_Notice.pdf

Who on earth came up with that name..??


Quote:

NOTICE TO THE INDUSTRY Issued 6 September 2007 ICSTIS BECOMES PHONEPAYPLUS As you may have already heard, ICSTIS will become PhonepayPlus on 15 October 2007. Changes in the types of service on offer and the way in which we regulate mean that the name ICSTIS is no longer an accurate description of our organisation and culture. Nor is it helpful in terms of public awareness. We believe that PhonepayPlus will give consumers a much better understanding of the help and advice we can provide. PhonepayPlus will continue where ICSTIS left off. We will continue to regulate the promotion, content and overall operation of all services that are subject to our Code of Practice, and we will continue to take action against those companies who break our rules. From early 2008, we will also start regulating all services offered on 0871 numbers. PhonepayPlus will focus on pre-empting and preventing problems – the key, we believe, to effective long-term consumer protection and a dynamic, growing industry. We will be working closely with a number of organisations over the coming months on a range of new consumer protection, youth education and industry 'prevention rather than cure' initiatives. We want to have the right measures in place to engender an industry-wide culture of compliance where services are offered responsibly and consumers get a fair deal. We are already in contact with phone companies, consumer bodies and others with high levels of public contact about the services PhonepayPlus will offer. We will also be publishing further information on our website in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you probably want to know exactly what the change will mean to you. Will our address and contact details be the same? Yes, other than our change of name, our postal and Freepost addresses, as well as our switchboard, fax, Contact Centre and Media Office numbers, will be unaffected. Our new website address will be www.phonepayplus.org.uk. The address for our PHONEbrain website will remain unchanged: www.phonebrain.org.uk. Will the people I deal with on a regular basis change? No, your usual contacts, and their telephone numbers, will remain the same, while their email addresses will end with @phonepayplus.org.uk. Do I need to make changes to existing publications or websites? If you identify areas where you want to update printed or electronic material, please contact us as we can help by providing our new logo and accompanying text. We want our role, our new name and the ways to contact us understood as widely as possible, and would therefore ask that you bring the change to the attention of all colleagues with an interest in our work. We appreciate that you may have additional questions in the run-up to 15 October so please feel free to email us at branding@phonepayplus.org.uk. We look forward to collaborating with you over the coming months to build the best regulatory environment for consumers and industry alike.

Yeh, it doesn't exactly roll of the tongue does it??

Probably the main reason for the change of name is to cover the fact that they now will have to add to their previous duties and responsibilities the task of supposedly overseeing the new vogue of Premium numbers with call queuing allowed. This will commence with only 0871, but you can bet that what is really behind it is that Ofcom have already decided what their next sly move with covert Premium numbers will be, so that call queuing and all the tricks for extortion can continue unabated, and that probably has one particular component - that the supposed responsibility for regulating them will be passed to what was ICSTIS and now will be Phonepayplus !!!

dorf wrote on Sep 6^th, 2007 at 9:04pm:

Probably the main reason for the change of name is to cover the fact that they now will have to add to their previous duties and responsibilities the task of supposedly overseeing the new vogue of Premium numbers with call queuing allowed. This will commence with only 0871, but you can bet that what is really behind it is that Ofcom have already decided what their next sly move with covert Premium numbers will be, so that call queuing and all the tricks for extortion can continue unabated, and that probably has one particular component - that the supposed responsibility for regulating them will be passed to what was ICSTIS and now will be Phonepayplus !!!

Assuming I understood your point clearly - is it not better to have regulation for all premium phone numbers in the hands of an organisation solely for that purpose? At present Ofcom has to handle so many conflicting interests (politely put) that no wonder it's ineffective

I think it is clear that you did not understand my point at all farci. That is probably my fault for not expressing it too well?

I disagree entirely with your suggestion by which you imply that the only reason that Ofcom is ineffective is that it has to handle so many conflicting interests. Ofcom is ineffective in regulating Telecoms, entirely because it wants and intends to be ineffective. If it regulated firmly and properly as it should, fulfilling its principal duty under the Acts, which is to protect the Citizen Consumer, then the Telecoms entities would be screaming and most displeased. The gravy train would be curtailed.

My point concerning the change of name of ICSTIS was that this whole scam with NGNs in reality is based on call queuing whilst generating unlimited revenue. What Ofcom is clearly intending is to neatly enable call queuing on Premium numbers to continue, by gradually moving all revenue-generating NGNs over to this newly named version of ICSTIS to control, so that Ofcom can effectively wash its hands of the problem, by agreeing at last that they are all Premium numbers in reality, although they denied for so long previously that they were Premium numbers. This side stepping gambit will allow them to "get rid of the problem" which they know they have at present, because they know only too well that according to the original NTNP (which was designed by the regulator - not the public) Premium numbers should have never been allowed in the 08 or 07 category, but should be in the 09 category with call queuing prohibited. However the telecoms entities (and the government) do not want call queuing prohibited because this is how the big money is made with this scam. So this is the dilemma which Ofcom have, they are in a very difficult position. They need to be seen to be acting supposedly to fulfill their primary duty under the Act, but do not want to upset their telecoms buddies, nor of course can they act against the government's demands. I believe therefore that they have decided that the easiest way out of their difficulty is to eventually gradually move all these problem NGNs over to be officially classified as Premium numbers under the control of PhonepayPlus, as they are doing initially with 0871, but in a new category of Premium numbers with call queuing permitted, as they have already announced 0871 will be.

This strategy is totally unacceptable to Citizen Consumers though of course, and in reality will put Ofcom in a position of being open to charges of mal-regulation, since it was the regulator themselves who originally decided to prohibit call queuing with Premium numbers. It is most certainly not in the interest of Citizen Consumers that call queuing should be permitted with Premium numbers. However, if all these problem numbers are reclassified Ofcom hope that it will not be their problem any more and that they can escape any responsibility. I believe the renaming of ICSTIS is probably because this has already been decided and this is the intial move to clear the way.

I hope I have explained my point clearly now?

dorf wrote on Sep 8^th, 2007 at 2:14pm:

I hope I have explained my point clearly now?

As crystal - thanks!

Seems like we need to slightly alter the name of the campaign 'SayScumto0871.com' perhaps?

dorf wrote on Sep 6^th, 2007 at 9:04pm:

Probably the main reason for the change of name is to cover the fact that they now will have to add to their previous duties and responsibilities the task of supposedly overseeing the new vogue of Premium numbers with call queuing allowed. This will commence with only 0871, but you can bet that what is really behind it is that Ofcom have already decided what their next sly move with covert Premium numbers will be, so that call queuing and all the tricks for extortion can continue unabated, and that probably has one particular component - that the supposed responsibility for regulating them will be passed to what was ICSTIS and now will be Phonepayplus !!!

I think I read somewhere that 0872 and 0873 are already planned!

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/numresource/summary/


Quote:

Additional numbering resources for NTS 1.10 Some of the current numbering resources for the provision of NTS are nearing exhaustion. Therefore, Ofcom is proposing to expand the resource set aside for these services by making available additional 3-digit sub-ranges within the 087 and 084 ranges. The proposal is to designate 0872 and 0873 to supplement the 0871 sub-range for and 0843 to supplement the 0844 sub-range. 1.11 In the Numbering Policy Review, Ofcom set out a longer-term aim to manage growth on the existing 08 range in a manner that will, over a period of time, simplify the meaning provided to consumers by these numbers. The basic proposition is that meaning should primarily be provided by the first two digits of the dialled number (080/084/087) with the added simplification that the higher the number, the higher the price. The proposed allocations are consistent with this longer-term aim.

So.. by those aims, 0844 should be cheaper than 0845, and both cheaper than 0870.  But with the other plans for 0870 to become charged as per 01/02/03 ........  Don't different bits of OfCom talk to each other?

PhonepayPlus? What I stupid name. It doesn't sound like any sort of regulator or official body at all. It sounds more like some sort of seedy competition line, or a company providing premium rate numbers.

ICSTIS hardly rolled off the tongue, but at least it had an air of authority about it!

What kind of moron decided to rebrand ICSTIS as "PhonePayPlus"?

I notice Martin has just blogged on this, it's a disgrace to see our taxes used in this way. I mean, what are they hoping to achieve??? They sound more like a commercial company, not a government regulator... ::)

Smasher wrote on Oct 22^nd, 2007 at 9:20pm:

What kind of moron decided to rebrand ICSTIS as "PhonePayPlus"? I notice Martin has just blogged on this, it's a disgrace to see our taxes used in this way. I mean, what are they hoping to achieve??? They sound more like a commercial company, not a government regulator... ::)

It is, however, consistent - a sleazy industry overseen by a sleazy, corrupt and incompetent 'regulator' now with an appropriate name that demonstrates its true purpose. It still can't bring itself to publish the 0871 consultation responses, and has ignored a recent email asking for a date when the final statement will be given. It's a joke body with a joke name to match.

Anyone know who is responsible for actually regulating the regulatory* body  "PleasePayUs" a.k.a. ICSTIS?    

We need to formally complain to them about the lack of publication of the external responses to the 0871 Consultation.      

*I have emphasised the diminutive -y as they don't seem to regulate completely! ;)

Surely this newly started thread is a duplication of the thread already commenced about this topic quite a while ago. Before starting a new thread members should ensure that there is not already a thread started on the topic, otherwise there is a lack of continuity and coherence, in that some of the information and comment already posted is not considered by subsequent posters, who then risk "inventing the wheel all over again"!

Moderators: surely it is your normal policy to merge new threads posted carelessly like this one? I suggest this thread should be merged with the already existing thread: "ICSTIS becomes PhonepayPlus"!

~ Edited by Dave: Thread joined to existing one as per dorf's suggestion

dorf wrote on Oct 27^th, 2007 at 2:35pm:

Surely this newly started thread is a duplication of the thread already commenced about this topic quite a while ago. Before starting a new thread members should ensure that there is not already a thread started on the topic, otherwise there is a lack of continuity and coherence, in that some of the information and comment already posted is not considered by subsequent posters, who then risk "inventing the wheel all over again"! Moderators: surely it is your normal policy to merge new threads posted carelessly like this one? I suggest this thread should be merged with the already existing thread: "ICSTIS becomes PhonepayPlus"! ~ Edited by Dave: Thread joined to existing one as per dorf's suggestion

Apologies for starting a new thread - I searched but was surprised not to find anything so posted. In fact, searching for "ICSTIS" only shows up the originally started thread about half way down the results page! :-/