ashley50 wrote on Jan 24
th, 2008 at 12:18pm:
What is the 0870 position come 1FEB08?
No change!The regulations that were to come into effect on that date were never finalised. The final steps, which were to be carried out at the end of last year, were abandoned.
If you have made plans to make the changeover, then you should go ahead. Calls on your 0870 number will continue to be charged at a "premium" rate for some time. Ofcom had never intended to create an absolute prohibition on this anyway.
A possible (some would say grossly over-generous) interpretation is that Ofcom was actually trying to kill off 0870.
BT was intending to drop its rates, whereas others were not. We will have to wait to see what happens next.
I hope that you have not told your callers that they will be able to call the 0870 number at normal rates, as this would always have been at the discretion of their provider.
Your company seems to be ready to sayno to 0870, sacrificing the revenue share it was earning from callers. Ofcom is not yet ready. You will have to do this for yourselves in whatever way you think best.
You can guess that those of us who post here would urge you to cut off the 0870 number tomorrow and publish your alternative on this site.
Welcome, and thanks for posting - if you have been watching for some time, you will know the risk you take. Some will be waiting to hear what you decide to do.
David