To whomever it concerns,

I have noticed you use a 0845 number for contacting yourselves and I would like to point out that according to ASA/CAP (Advertising Standards Authority), OfCOM and the Governments Central Office of Information guidelines calls to 0845 are no longer 'local rate' and calls to 087x are no longer 'national rate' and can no longer be described as this.  You are also no longer allowed to remain silent on the call cost (ie not display the cost of the call).

Since over a year ago, BT removed the difference between local rate calls and national rate calls and they now cost the same.  For example, calling from London to Scotland costs the exact same amount as calling from London to Essex - and that is 3ppm but yet ringing a 0845/0870 can cost more.

In fact BT charge nearly 4ppm for calls to an 0845 and nearly 8ppm for calls to an 0870 but yet other operators (Telewest/NTL, etc) actually charge more than BT and calls from payphones and mobile networks actually cost upto 40ppm to call these 084x/087x numbers.

Also, as you may or may not be aware that not all operators outside the UK will allow connection to a UK NGN (non-geographical number) beginning with 084x/087x.

Are you aware of the new revised edition of Governments' Central Office of Information guidelines and I quote the following paragraph from it:-

"(2) 0845 in particular has been known as ‘local rate’ – however with increased competition in the marketplace and resultant changes in tariff structures, these rates will often be in excess of normal local rates that citizens might be charged on their package. 0845 (and 0844) costs through phone boxes and some mobile tariffs can also be expensive to the citizen and this should also be considered."

For further information on the ASA’s decision that advertising your 0845 number as ‘local’ (0870 as 'national') rate or remaining silent on the call cost is now classed as misleading can be read here:-

http://www.cap.org.uk/cap/advice_online/ad_alerts/Advertising+0845+and+087+numbe...

and here:-

http://www.asa.org.uk/cap/news_events/news/2005/hanging+on+the+telephone+on+and+...

Also, information on OfCOM’s guidelines (similar to that of the ASA) can be read here:-

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/mofaq/telecoms/0870faq/#content

Due to the problems dialling an 084x/087x and the excessive costs involved (especially from payphones and mobiles), I noticed that OfCOM have now changed their 'Contact Us' page that used to mention a 0845 but now states that for the majority of callers (over 95%) it is cheaper to call their geographical and not their 0845 number.  This can be viewed here (you need to scroll down a bit):-

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/contact/

Yours sincerely

Who is behind Digital UK?

Digital UK is operated by SwitchCo Ltd. SwitchCo Ltd was set up at the request of Government. It is jointly owned by the UK's public service broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, S4C and Teletext), SDN and National Grid Wireless.

Registrant:
        Switchco Limited

     Registrant type:
        UK Limited Company, (Company number: 5422613)

     Registrant's address:
        c/o DTI Bay 226
        151 Buckingham Palace Road
        London
        SW1W 9SS
        GB

     Registrant's agent:
        British Broadcasting Corporation [Tag = BBC]

Of course the call centre taking calls for DigitalUK enquiries may not be based at this location and could even be the infamous Capita that the BBC and some other government departments outsource their call centres to.