Now BT has followed the other firms into having one rate for all geographical numbers, with everyone on a version of BT Together, then the titles for 0845 and 0870 numbers are no longer correct, as there is no such thing as local or distance calls.

For this reason those codes should be retitled, and my suggestions are.

0870 - Mini Premium Rate
0845 - Micro Premium Rate

Whilst I agree that BT has engineered this nonsense, I believe it is upto Oftel/Ofcom to set rules. BT is only operating as a business. The fact that choice and competition push prices down is a load of nonsense the government use to sell off our utilities.

There should be an investigation into how this has been allowed to happen. Why did no-one in the Ofcom office realise this was about to happen?

Ofcom is there simply to satisfy its own ends!

Part of the Ofcom reply to Heinz said :-



I think this could be a way forward if ever Ofcom can 'finalise' a view!!  But it would depend on the 'warning' given - being somewhat cynical I reckon it might be something like  "This call will only be charged at a national rate" - taking us right back to where we were!!
Come on, Ofcom, work FOR us - as you are supposed to.

Quote:
I (and, I would hope, others) will happily do just that.  Can you provide a link to that information?

Sammy,

I think that this is a must. It would not be difficult for the telcos to do though I am sure they will oppose it.

The message should read something like below - X being the actual charge. Not difficult to do for Telcos. 0870 numbers should have an addition that makes everything transparent.

0845 number

The call you are making will cost you Xp per minute. This charge will apply even if you are on an all-in tariff.

0870 and other 'premium'  numbers addition

The organisation or person you are calling will receive some of the total  charge of this call from your Telco.

What could be clearer than that. I would be willing to bet that the Telcos will fight such a change tooth and nail and that Ofcom will not have the guts to enforce it. The Telcos will have all manner of excuses such as it is difficult and expensive to install, our customers will object (which customers?) etc.  They will not say that there real reason is that  it exposes totally the NGN scam to all callers. Their other cusomers know about the scam because they profit from it.

Quote:


What discounts or call packages can apply to 0870 anyway? Friends and family can't be used for 0870, and they've done away with inclusive call allowance (increasing my quarterly bill by £6 in effect). And as we know, none of the special call packages include non-geographical numbers.

I have a great idea, though, next time BT call me to hassle me to have a different package. I'll ask which is the cheapest for 0870 numbers!

Dave,

BT do still have a 'standard' tariff which you can get on their online price list.  It applies to a tiny minority of customers (ISDN and Home Highway, I think).  This is the benchmark rate for these BT customers, but not for anyone else.  Which is why OFCOM state that the designations in the Numbering Plan are not to be used as price indications.  In fact, 'Special Services Basic/Higher Rate' would be OK as price indications, but any derivative of 'national rate' or 'local rate' would not.

Of pelham9's list of objections, only number 1 has been addressed at all (that is, consumers being misled about the cost of calls).  Even before the new numbering plan, it would have been misleading, and therefore illegal, to advertise 0870 as 'national rate' or 0845 as 'local rate'.  The law is the Consumer Protection Act 1987 (s.20), and it is enforced by your local Trading Standards department.

Although OFCOM's recent review was ostensibly about the 'retail price' of 084x/087x numbers, it had little to do with 'retail price'.  It only dealt with 'retail price' for the tiny minority of customers on BT Standard.  OFCOM's view is that they can't enforce price caps on non-dominant operators (BT's view was the opposite).  The numbering plan makes it clear that the definitions in it are not to be used for marketing purposes.

Maybe OFCOM (and OFTEL before them, as a Thatcher-era regulator) see themselves primarily as economic regulators, with consumer protection as a secondary function.  So as long as no-one's being misled (which is addressed by the new numbering plan), then the main role is to stimulate competition, the free market blah blah blah.  All very muddle-headed, but driven by a flawed political ideology.

But why should these numbers cost the same as geo calls?  If they did, there'd be no incentive to companies to use them (aside from the somewhat spurious 'advantages' quoted by some marketers, e.g. that it makes your company look 'big').  It's possible to divert geo numbers just as it is to route non-geo numbers, although perhaps more expensive.

Don't get me wrong, I loathe having to use the numbers as much as anyone on this forum!

OFCOM are to produce guidance on advertising 084x/087x numbers.  Pressure them to include, in the guidance, a firm recommendation that advertisers always quote an alternative number.  Even if only a proportion of advertisers pick up on this (perhaps ones who take the numbers mainly for 'image' rather than revenue share -- mostly 0845), public awareness might increase and people will be more inclined to start asking for alternatives?