Again it looks like the 'withelds' are nearly all the 'Yes - men/women'.
Little dissent from the Ofcom line in the main, very fishy.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/nts_forward/responses/sz/steve.pdf

This is actually my grandsons response, from his 'company'. Im still waiting for my response to be posted.

Price Transparency
Technically it [call cost announcement] is now possible, and some companies do provide it. It is the only logical solution to this problem.
However, it received confidential responses from two of the main carriers (BT and NTL). Naturally, they seemed to infer that it would be prohibitively expensive (over £100m). Of course, they would say that, wouldn’t they! It is not in the interests of most OCP’s to provide clear and open pricing, that is why they haven’t done
it. It is no surprise that OCP’s providing Call Price Labelling, somehow have managed to provide it and still retain cheap calls… so much for all that expensive equipment! So, we believe that Ofcom should act in the true interests of the UK consumer and indeed the British economy by implementing what is really required and not be bullied by large OCP’s. Call Price Labelling should be a requirement for all operators, for all calls, anytime.

What else can be done?
Price Transparency would be a major step forward, but there are some other issues addressed throughout this consultation period, which also have merit.
We demonstrated earlier in this document that 08 numbers could cost more than normal geographic numbers because of the value-added nature of the specialist services offered. The variety and choice of both service and CP needs to be maintained for this competitive and innovative market to flourish.
However, there are a couple of areas, which could be considered a hindrance.
Many of the 08 ranges have become used purely for methods of micro-payment to an end user. In this situation the CP isn’t actually providing any added value or specialist service. On this basis we would agree with Ofcom that revenue share should be removed from the 08 range.
This would certainly have consumer benefits:
· Callers would know that they haven’t been put in a call queue just to raise extra revenue.
· Costs for these types of call would be driven down by the competitive market.
· CP’s could develop innovative products and services based on merit alone, without the squeeze
created by revenue sharing pressures from large corporate customers.
The UK national numbering scheme would be simplified and more understandable with just one range of numbers having revenue share.
Revenue share should only be available on Premium Rate numbers.
However, for the above benefits to occur, TCP’s need to be in control of their costs. At present they are not. BT and the regulator fundamentally set the rates and hence the revenue that TCP’s receive, this should not be the case.
This would benefit both consumers and TCP’s:
· TCP’s could choose a tariff most appropriate for the product they are offering.
· TCP’s would have greater confidence in developing and investing.
Consumers and companies will have a greater choice of value added services.
TCP’s should be in control of the rates received on all 08 numbers.

We believe the Ofcom proposals are short-term fudges to pacify a media lobby group. Ofcom are not taking an overarching view of the industry and the proposals are contrary to Ofcom’s Strategic Review of Telecommunications. In particular, quoting from the review “Our market research and consultation
suggested that businesses and consumers want much more than basic, reliable telecoms services at low prices: they also want choice, and rapid innovation and introduction of new services.” The Ofcom proposals will kill the very companies that will be able to offer these innovative new services.  Ofcom’s excessive micro-regulation will be anti-competitive and detrimental to innovation. The
proposals put forward by Ofcom only work in the case of primary “backbone” carriers and will force many small telecom operators out of business and also the companies, institutions and charities that they supply. How can this be good for UK consumers and the UK economy? The pricing for all of the UK telecommunications industry needs to be made more transparent to the consumer. This should be the way forward. Consumers need to know the cost of the calls they make and also where that money is going. Give consumers that choice and they will make nformed decisions. This should be the competitive driver that will force down prices and improve quality. With today’s technology, Call Price Labelling is straightforward. In the unlikely event that Ofcom will fail to implement this proposal, then FleXtel will lobby the Press.