Quote:However does not look good - he (Geoff Brighton at Ofcom) stated from their review number of companies migrating to non-geo numbers is not significant. Also revenue received from non-geo numbers is minimal compared to costs of setting up call centres and stated that if you do not pay through through call charges you would pay through higher costs of the product
This has to be the most unbelievable statement these idiots at Ofcom have ever
made! As I have stated elsewhere, just look through any computer magazine.
Probably 80 to 90% of the firms advertising are using 0870 number. Listen to the
radio - advertisements are almost ALL to 0870 numbers. Concert tickets - 0870.
Insurance - 0870 ..... it just goes on and on. In fact, as has also been said
elsewhere, it will soon be the case that a geographic number for a UK business
will be very much the exception. I have asked the question before. Does anyone
have any idea of the extent of NGNs as a proportion of business numbers?
Probably a difficult statistic to find, but I'd wager it could be well over 50%!
But, of course, as others have said, these idiots at Ofcom have well and truly
got their noses in the swill, and no amount of pressure is going to get them
out. In addition, they are surreptitiously backed by BT who will do anything to
maintain their monopoly position, whilst paying lip service to a 'free and open
market'. Yeah - and pigs might fly!
It's a glum and depressing scenario for the future. Whilst real call costs fall
in just about every other industrial country, in the UK they continue to climb -
thanks to 0870! And don't even start on the relative costs of products .... because with almost universal 1-800 (free call) business numbers here in the US, we don't pay anything like most UK prices........!