I hereby request under the Freedom of Information Act the geographical termination number (those beginning with 01 or 02) that your 0845/070 contact numbers point to.

Each of your contact numbers that you ask us to ring is translated to one or more geographical numbers and I hereby request you provide me with this information under the above act.

I’m requesting this information because the cost of having to call your 0845 number from a landline is ACTUALLY more than calling a local or national geographical call (numbers beginning 01x or 02x) and in fact calling a 0845 from a payphone or mobile can cost upto 40ppm, yes 40ppm.

I therefore think that by using an 0845 contact number is not in anyway of benefit to us public, therefore it is in the public interest to have your underlying geographical number and in fact acts as a "cost barrier" due to the excessive costs of ringing an 0845 (ie can cost upto 40ppm from some mobile networks and payphones) and therefore may stop the public from ringing you.

Since well over a year ago, BT removed the difference between local rate and national rate geographical (those beginning 01x or 02x) 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 can cost more than this and in most cases often does.

For example, Telewest charge 3.95ppm which is more than a geographical local number and more importantly and as mentioned earlier it can cost upto 40ppm to call non-geographical numbers like your 0845 from a mobile and this can be confirmed here.

Look at where it states standard calls and it has a "*" then scroll down near the bottom to the small print related to the "*" and you'll see it then reads:-

"* UK to UK standard fixed line numbers. 0845, 0800 and 0870 numbers are charged are charged at 35p per min in the daytime..."

Or, another example is T-Mobile charge 40p/min to call 0845 numbers as can been seen here.

The following link from BT's website confirms that local and national rate calls cost the same (3ppm) but calling a non-geographical number is excluded from this rate (see their small print) and is generally higher.  See here.

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.   Although it may be rare to receive calls from abroad it is possible that I (and other people) whilst on holiday abroad may have cause to ring you for which depending on the operator may be impossible.

I quote this from Ofcom:-

"Ofcom is aware that callers may experience difficulty in accessing UK non-geographic numbers from outside the UK. This results from uncertainties over financial returns for routing between international operators caused by the variable cost of calls and imbalances between charges that can be retained or passed on through international arbitrage. UK residents dialling the non-geographic numbers of other countries from the UK frequently experience the same or similar problems. Individual countries do not normally permit access to non-geographic numbers from overseas. This is because these services are differently priced from geographic services and it is impossible for an operator in the originating country (which in many cases may not be transmitting the international part of the call) to know what the appropriate price and for the correct amount to be passed via several carriers and be paid to the terminating operator."

Are you aware of both Ofcom's and Central Office of Information (COI) guidelines regarding the use of non-geographical numbers like your 0845 and from them I quote:-

Ofcom guidelines:

"Ofcom believes it is inappropriate for public bodies to use NTS numbers exclusively (i.e. without at a minimum, giving equal prominence to a geographic alternative) when dealing with people on low incomes or other vulnerable groups. Ofcom has been active in providing advice to the Government's Central Office of Information ('COI') and Government Departments and will continue to provide this support. Ofcom would like to see a greater level of compliance with the COI's published guidelines on the use of number ranges, given the level of public disquiet over this issue, and would be keen to support the Government in achieving this objective."

Central Office of Information (COI) guidelines:

"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."