Dear Working Lunch

I write to ask if you would consider drawing attention to the issue of the cost of making telephone calls to non-geographic numbers.  This issue is not only important but is also topical given Ofcom are currently consulting the public on this issue.

I believe there is widespread disatisfaction with the increasing use of non-geographic numbers (i.e 0870/0871/0845/0844).   Whereas the cost of geographical calls (beginning 01/02) has fallen in recent years, calls costs to non-geographic calls have remained high (0870 can be eight times more expensive than the geographic equivalent and even more expensive when made from mobiles).  I have read that calls to non-geographic numbers now account for up to a third of  all call costs and this amounts to an average of up to £150 per year per household.

You will be aware of the last year's backlash regarding the Met's use of an 0870 number as a casualty hotline following the dreadful July bombings.  Under the circumstances it is no wonder that the 'shameful' £30,000 profits made by 0870 were given to charity.  Similarly why should retail giants be making money on the back of consumers who, for example, are waiting to report that their washing machine has broken down?

In December 2005 Ofcom consulted on the way forward for Number Translation Services and received an unprecedented response of over 1200 replies with the general public very much against the use of these numbers.  (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/nts_forward/responses/) Not only are these numbers over priced, they are misleading too.  Many carry the labels of local rate/national rate when this distinction is meaningless to most peoples' call plans.  Worse still, for the increasing numbers of those who budget for their telephone costs by 'pre-paying' a monthly subscription so to have 'free' uk landline calls, they will find that non-geographic are almost always excluded.

Ofcom is now undertaking yet another consultation on a Review of The UK Telephone Numbering which closes 25 May 2006. (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/numberingreview/summary/?a=87101). ; To Ofcom's credit, it proposes to create a new country-wide number range - 03 - which would be charged to the consumer at the same rate as calling a geographic number.  Organisations requiring a national presence would be able to use this range without charging consumers a premium for contacting them; and calls to 03 numbers could be included in any inclusive or low-cost call packages offered by landline or mobile phone companies.  On the downside, however, Ofcom would allow a re-organised 0870/0871/0845/0844 to continue and therefore there seems little incentive for organisations to move to the new '03' range and so the misleading and overpriced telephone numbers are likely to continue.

To illustrate this point you may be aware that Ofcom have proposed to change the 0870 number range so that it would be charged at a geographic rate. Such a change would be very popular and very much in the consumer's interest.  In anticipation of this change, however, we are already seeing companies migrate from 0870 to 0871 so to protect the revenue they receive on the back of their consumers phone calls.  See here for an example of a telecom companies encouraging business to make such a switch: (http://www.telewest.co.uk/business/research_insights/announcements/nts_ofcom_cha...). This clearly shows that the regulator's attempts to make changes in the consumer's interest are very easily side stepped, and my concern is that these problems would only continue based on Ofcom's latest proposals.

This is why I believe many of your viewers would appreciate being made aware of these issues and of the opportunity to have their say on the matter.