Quote:


I share this fear too that they will drop plans to restore the link between 0870 and geographic call rates.  After all, regrettably, from Ofcom's point of view, they may consider it a duplication - there would be no difference between 0870 charged at geographic rates and the proposed 03-range.

And, as NGM also raises, how does Ofcom intend to encourage users of 0870/0845 numbers to transfer to the new 03-range.  As it stands there seems very little incentive and Ofcom would then probably say its not their place to force companies to do anything, Ofcom just provides the 'framework'.  Yet again, we'd end up with a mess of 03s, 087s and 0845s - confusion reigns again. 

I too support the view that as part of introducing the 03-range and to achieve greater clarity and consistency, abolish 087x and 084x, and any revenue raising 08x must move to 09x!  This would also clearly leave 08 as freephone.  Surely, this clearly makes common sense? (Even if it does trample over some of the vested interests of the Ofcom/Telecoms Industry!) 

Isn't the new 03 code just a re-hash of the Oftel corporate numbering proposal which they were planning in the 05 range.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/ind_groups/numbering/forum/corptnmb...  

I think that Ofcom has decided to drop the corporate name but I do think that "A2.35 Our specific proposal is to target this new range at those businesses and public sector bodies which require a non-geographic number because they require a national presence, rather than because they wish to generate revenue from incoming calls." p93 sounds like a similar idea but spun differently.

Back in 1997 Oftel consulted on allocating the 05 number range to corporate companies. So instead of the teleco's owning a 05 range the company would. This would be instead of a geographic number and not masking one like current NGNs. The theory was that the company would then be able to mange its communications systems (including allocating its own numbers) in a more cost-efficient and effective way rather than having to deal with one or many telecoms companies, essentially setting up a private network Also, as it is the company that owns the number range they would effectively be able to play the telcos off against each other and get the best deal for themselves. The link is a powerpoint slide trying to push this idea to an industry group.  

How this could work would be that Tesco's would get the range 03 251 0000 to 9999. So national customer services could be 0000, store a 0001, store b 0002, Head office 0003 etc...    

Quote:


Partly that, but they probably also like the idea of having numbers the customers might easily remember - 03210 321321 or 03456 456456 for example, but maybe we'll be stuck with 03078 and 03847 prefixes instead  

Quote:


When I read that proposal, I too was concerned that they were going to change their mind on 0870 numbers. They do say, "These proposals complement work already underway to reform the current 084/087 numbering scheme, the conclusion of which will be published next month," but how does a geographical rate 0870 fit into a scheme where 082 numbers are cheap, 089 numbers are expensive, etc? Unfortunately, it will complement 0870 numbers better if they are charged at 8p/min!

However, freephone numbers do fit in logically if 080 is to be free, 081 is cheap, etc.

Quote:


And then prove that the message has sunk in with Joe Public. This isn't difficult - brand owners do it all the time. You can bet BT knows exactly how many people can accurately reel off the benefits of their latest wheeze, and for that matter how many DON'T know about the downsides.

The difficult bit is persuading OFCOM that clear communication matters - even though you'd think the Office of Communication would see it as a vital deliverable!

Quote:
And, of course, we might revert to 080 being free - from all payphones and mobiles - indeed everywhere. As well as accessible from abroad at an appropriate international rate.

Tks, NGM; one more for the response as part of the overall plan.