Trenod wrote on Sep 23
rd, 2010 at 10:33pm:
I think 'Fair Telecoms' is even more misleading than 'Say No to 0870'. It doesn't mention the non-geographic number issue at all!
We have already had one name which has been outgrown for two reasons:
1. The removal of support for revenue sharing (i.e. removal of subsidy or premiums passed covertly to number users), largely as a result of this campaign.
2. Organisations moving to other covert premium numbers, most notably 0845 and 0844, but also 0871.
The practice of covert premium numbers is patently unfair to consumers, as are other practices which fall outside the non-geographic phone number sphere. For example, the way in which reverse-charged premium rate SMS text messages permit organisations to steal from victims via their mobile phones and the continued toleration of silent calls.
A campaign for fair telecoms would be calling for the end to these types of rip-offs. Thus, I propose the new name be "Fair Telecoms" or "Campaign for Fair Telecoms".
Peter2010 wrote on Sep 24
th, 2010 at 12:07am:
I'm with Dave on the "change in the focus" of the use of 087x and 084x - the idea used to be good (for companies who wanted to hide their geographical location, or those with multiple offices as destinations for the calls, dependent upon location. However, with calls to all 08's and 05's being excluded from mobile call-plans, I feel the days of the non-geo number are numbered.
Anyway, back to the question in hand; what do we rename the site to? Everybody knows us as Saynoto0870 - why change that? My suggestion, for what it's worth, is to register
www.saynoto08xx.com and saynoto05xx.com, then put redirects on both sites to this one. At the end of the day it all comes down to the old addage "
if it aint broke, don't fix it"
I totally disagree and could never be part of a campaign to say no to all 05xx and 08xx numbers. There are two distinct issues with two distinct causes for high costs for ringing these numbers:
Issue | Reason for higher call charges | Cause |
Number ranges such as 0844 and 0845 (and previously 0870) that pass subsidy to receivers (users), via their telephone provider. | Payment of the subsidy to number users. | The choice of users to take subsidy from callers. |
Other 05xx and 08xx non-geographic numbers that do not pass subsidy to the receiver. | Some originating providers choose to retail at a higher rate to normal numbers. | Originating providers setting the higher call rates - they retain the premiums. |
I believe that the campaign objective for the latter-class should be focused on getting the providers in question to reduce their charges rather than getting them abolished.
We have already suceeded in getting 03 numbers introduced, for which the rules on call charging apply to all providers. There is the possibility that similar rules could be introduced for other number ranges and I believe this to be a realistic campaign objective.