The deadline for this consultation is tomorrow (Friday) and hopefully if enough people respond to this consultation it will convince ICSTIS to ensure call queuing on 0871 numbers is prohibited and costs are always displayed when anyone publishes an 0871 number - just like 09x numbers now.

Their consultation looks like they only want to apply very "light" regulation as customer detriment, according to them, is low and is likely to be low except where the number is used for chat lines and not general call centres like customer services, tech support, etc.

bbb_uk, thanks for the reminder. I haven't read the document, but I intend to send a short response. Thanks for posting the questions and your draft responses. Have you thought of anything further that you have added?

BB

why dont you sum it up and say the 0871 number is a Premium rate number and should be treat as so. That is the bottem line.  Ask them what they think it is.

Bobby

bbb_uk wrote on Sep 29^th, 2006 at 9:48am:

And if they were to bring in more stringent rules like no queuing, then they would have to investigate complaints from pesky consumers. This will mean increased costs and therefore they will cross this off as not an option.

BB

The issue is not what OFCOM or  ISCTIC want 0871 (or 0845 or 0870) to be, but the fact that they are Premium Rate numbers. This is not because I say so or anyone has an opiniun but that the EU Commission termed them so. See link to Liz Lynn website on this issue. Please do not also forget that OFCOM tellls ISCTIC what to do as it is an arm of OFCOM.



As I have said repeatedly:   being Premium Rate numbers they must (as dave also mentions)
1. conform to the Misleading Advertising Directive - that is disclose the cost of the call before hand and must not mislead consumers that they are a costs of a normal call when they are not,

2.  Treat Consumers unfairly in a anti consumer practice.  The fact that they want to generate money out of consumers in my view is a unfair and unjust practice.

3. There is no reason to have 0871 or 0845 or 0870 as they provide no diffrent service then what was provide when businesses had land lines.

4. It is a fact that all businesses that have 0871  or 0845/0870 all have land lines. and it also a fact that if consumers were given a option to dial direct - even to India, or the any where in uk it is cheapr then being diverted by 0871/0845 or 0870.

Then ASK OFCOM and ISCTIC if they prepared to be investigated by the EU Commissioner and tell OFCOM and ISCTIC that you want this sites view that it cannot take part in Consultation - because of their deception to mask a Premium rate number when the commissioner has called them so.

Bobby

Dave wrote on Sep 29^th, 2006 at 3:39pm:
That's what I've tried to get through to ICSTIS by mentioning I'd much prefer to ring an 09x number costing 10p/min rather than the current 0871 number costing the same.

Bobbyboy wrote on Sep 29^th, 2006 at 2:48pm:


I told them in my 8 page response that I would be making sure personally that they would be investigated by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and by the European Commissioner if they failed to impose the same rules and the same branding on these 0871 numbers as all other Premium rate numbers starting 09.

I pointed out that in Ofcom NTS Way Forward the proposals were that 0871 be fully ICSTIS regulated and the only weasel excuse given for leaving it on the old 0871 numbers was the usual rubbish about how difficult it would be for business to move numbers etc, etc.  So strange then that Ofcom don't mind at all about all the companies now stuck with a Premium Rate so called Lo-Call 0845 number will have to change to a new 03 number if they don't want many of their customers to pay a 35p a minute premium rate from some mobile phone providers.

My suggestion was that because the use of 0871 for a premium rate number was inherently deceitful and misleading that they actually needed more high profile branding and notices to ensure that these weren't confuses with 0870 when those numbers become charged at geographic national rate.

I did complement them on making their proposals in only 20 pages rather than the 200 it usually took Ofcom but I still said I thought they could have had more charts and diagrams.  I said I had given up hope on responding to Ofcom consultations making any difference to the final regulations proposed but was hoping that it might be worthwhile in their case.

I'm sure though that they will still press ahead with the original Master Plan as agreed in smoke filled rooms with Bodge It & Scarper Carter.  And we will I'm sure have to go all the way to the European Commission if we are going to bring an end to the misdeeds of all of Ofcom's most unprincipled and careerist snout in the trough employees.

I said Ofcom was a "compromised regulator" in my ICSTIS response clearly implying that they wouldn't want to fall into this trap.

I did notice that in the Consultation document they suggested they were only looking for consumer groups to respond though - perhaps they were hoping for a complementary response from the Ofcom Mealy Mouthed Consumers Panel for instance who recently  had another vacancy but again refused to call me for an interview for the third time in just over a year (notice how no one from the Ofcom Cronies Panel ever campaigns publicly against Ofcom policies in the national press).  I bet it will come as a shock to ICSTIS when they get 30 or 40 real individuals responding but its a shame it won't be 1,000.  Most people have lost heart by now with these crooked regulators who pretend to consult and even have the cheek to suggest to the press they are doing something positive about 0870 while actually making arrangements first to let the cost go up by 3p per call with BT and then to let the whole 0870 scam increase in cost from 7.51p peak rate to 10p per minute at all times.

Unfortunately I didn't respond to the Numbering Plan Review a few months back because I knew I would have spent ages on it but it wouldn't have made any difference because it was clear it was already a done deal given their previous statement on the results of NTS Way Forward and how they were going to tackle 0844/0845/0870 and 0871.

I only responded to this consultation because it was ICSTIS to give them a chance to show they are not like Ofcom.

With an Ofcom consultation I honestly think you might actually achieve more by going and padlocking yourself to the doors of Riverside House and calling a Press Conference.  Its clear that Ofcom think they can just ignore what the general public want and instead do what the business cronies of New Labour want them to do with impunity.