A video now appears on their news website, see
here.
For new visitors to this site, I'd like to just let you know that despite the BBC news video stating 0870 numbers, companies can make money from other numbers beginning 0844, 0845 and 0871 as well, as mentioned by kk above.
The difference is that Ofcom are only doing something about 0870 numbers from February 2008 (not January as reported by the BBC).
Ofcom are not doing anything about 0844 and 0845 numbers for the next few years. However, 0871 numbers used by some companies like
EasyJet, etc will be regulated, albeit only very slightly regulated, by
ICSTIS.
Essentially, calls to numbers beginning 0844, 0845, 0870 and 0871 are premium rate because they can cost more (and most of the time do) than a call to a normal geographical number (those beginning 01 or 02) and in most cases are excluded from any inclusive price plan you may have with your landline and/or mobile provider. The main differences between these (stealth) premium rate numbers and numbers beginning 09x is that numbers beginning 09x are regulated and companies using these numbers are prohibited from charging you whilst keeping you in a queue.However, numbers beginning 0844, 0845, 0870 and 0871 are not regulated and as such this is why they are popular with companies like BA, Sky, Virgin, and government departments. Companies/government departments using these numbers can, and often do, receive money every minute you are held in a queue.
I use the word "stealth" premium rate because most consumers think these are just normal calls and the company being called isn't earning money.
The cost of 0844 numbers vary and can cost upto 5p/min from a BT landline. However, other telephone providers may charge more and in some cases it can cost upto around 40p/min to call from some mobile networks/tariffs.
The cost of 0845 numbers can cost upto 3p/min from a BT landline. However, other telephone providers generally charge more. For example, NTL:Telewest (now known as VirginMedia) charge upto 5p/min. Again, the cost of calling from some mobile networks/tariffs can cost significantly more than this.
The cost of 0870 numbers can cost upto 8p/min from a BT landline. However, other telephone providers generally charge more. For example, NTL:Telewest (now known as VirginMedia) charge upto 10p/min. Again, the cost of calling from some mobile networks/tariffs can cost significantly more than this.
The cost of 0871 numbers cost upto 10p/min from a BT landline. However, other telephone providers may charge more. Again, the cost of calling from some mobile networks/tariffs can cost significantly more than this.
These numbers are frequently marketed as being either 'local rate', 'lo-call' or 'national rate'. This is misleading but at this time Ofcom don't appear to be doing anything to stop this.
More information
here.