Tara will be pleased to know that 18185 now allow access to 03 numbers again.

mmm, I can understand you guys don't likes 08xx numbers etc etc etc.  But let's not get technical about this.  All I'm talking about is the consequence to some one (me, if you like) of companies moving to 0330 numbers.   Specifically -- the move to 0330 only numbers means that some people will suffer (as far as I can see).   

Is the issue only with me since I use the 1899 service?  It's hard to know what a lot of other recommended [see: http://callchecker.moneysavingexpert.com/ukcallchecker/landline/daytime/bt/easy ]  do charge, since 03 numbers are not specifically mentioned.   If other providers include 0330 numbers in an 0p per minutes package then *please* let me know who!  However, I suspect that 0330 number are not included with any of these cheaper providers because they are not routed the same as 01/02 numbers. 

Anyway, perhaps I should have said for technical correctness that 03 numbers are not 01/02 numbers; rather than saying they were a bit like 08xx number? 

Finally some good news everybody with regard to Finarea's call brands (1899, 18185, 18866 and various voip offerings) as in the middle of this week I found they were once again carrying calls to 03 numbers at "0p per minute" or 5p connection for the call (however long).

This has not come about by accident as in mid November I made several attempts to contact Ofcom's Director of Content Consumer and External Affairs, Claudio Pollack about this issue.  I had met Claudio long ago at a meeting at Ofcom in 2004 (where he was unstintingly friendly and charming unlike one or two other Ofcom staff members present) and he has remained in post as their head Consumer Affairs section ever since.  I was also able to track down Claudio's current direct phone line through some correspondence he had sent out from Ofcom that is posted on the web.

I never actually got a call back from Claudio himself but finally heard by phone from Marham Sivak at Ofcom in mid November.  Markham is their Principal Competition Policy Officer.  See https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/markham-sivak/0/4a2/88a

Markham told me that Ofcom were already fully aware of this issue and that they did regard the refusal of Finarea's UK call brands using Indirect Access to carry calls to UK 03 numbers as being a potential breach of Ofcom GC17 and were looking in to what could be done to persuade Finarea to comply with the General Condition.  Although Finarea are a Swiss company they have various UK subsidiaries and bank accounts that actually handle the finances of their UK sub-brands but they are also reliant on the Indirect Access facility of the fixed line telephone network (controlled by none other than BT Wholesale) to deliver the service.  Therefore in Mr Markham's opinion unlike the situation with Orange Spain charging vastly more to call UK 03 numbers than 01/02 numbers this matter was covered by Ofcom GC17.

Well it has taken a little time but now it seems that Finarea have been made to see the error of their ways and faced with the alternatives of either shutting down their UK Indirect Access call service (or face repeat fines if they didn't comply with GC17) they have chosen to comply and restore access to 03 numbers at the same rate as 01 and 02.  Ofcom were were also aware of the extensive previous promotion of the Finarea call brands by Moneysavingexpert.com and hence the fact that this breach of GC17 could not be regarded as being trivial.

It may of course be that more work behind the scenes has gone on here and that whatever parties were over charging Finarea for these 03 calls (clearly something had change as Finarea were connecting calls quite happily to 03 numbers for the previous 8 or more years since just after they had been created) compared to 01/02 numbers have also now been forced to lower their prices to sensible levels enabling Finarea to afford to restore access to the 03 number range.

I have to confess that I did intend to email Markham Sivak and also copy in several key journalists if Ofcom got nowhere with this issue but Ofcom have actually acted so comparatively rapidly here that they have beaten me too it in this instance.

However I had tracked down quite a bit more info on who is currently running Finarea in the event we had needed to correspond with them directly to point out the lack of wisdom of their block on calling 03 numbers.  The most useful information I came across was via the website at www.moneyhouse.ch/en/u/finarea_sa_CH-514.3.024.457-9.htm (where more of the info is free than certain rival websites such as kompany.com) and this currently reveals the following:-

Quote:


Alf Naus is also a director of KeyCollect SA, another Swiss company.  Alexander Engel and Anita Sindico also appear to have an involvement in the business activities of Keycollect SA.

But I cannot track any more information on these  three people.  They do not seem to be on either Linked In or Facebook.   Just quietly profitable Swiss Telecoms Gnomes it would appear.............

derrick wrote on Jan 31^st, 2015 at 10:39am:


Thanks for pointing that out Derrick.

How time must have flown over xmas and new year as it seems like only five minutes since I tried using 18185 to call an 03 and was told it was not a standard rate number and so could not be carried by them.

Nonetheless the change by Finarea was not made until one month after my conversation with Mr Markham Sivak at Ofcom and I do not believe that Finarea would have changed policy without receiving polite intimations from Ofcom and others that they might face action for a breach of GC17 if they did not include 03 numbers in their same deal as calls to numbers commencing 01 and 02.  Mr Sivak was very definite that the service supplied by Finarea by Indirect Access most definitely came within Ofcom's remit for ensuring GC17 compliance.

derrick wrote on Feb 1^st, 2015 at 10:24am:


Surely the difference Derrck is that even though many call package providers choose to include 055 numbers in their Anytime bundles or charge them at the same rate for out of bundle calls Ofcom has not included them within GC17 as numbers that must (by Ofcom regulatory mandate) be carried at the same rates as calls to geograpic 01, 02 numbers.

Therefore the only hope in this are is to lobby Ofcom to suggest that it needs to either expand the remit of GC17 to include 055 numbers of that Ofcom takes steps to allow all 055 numbers to be issued with 03 number replacements.

As to why Finarea changed their policy almost certainly they were receiving pressure from many quarters over not covering 03 numbers in their bundles.  This would of course have included Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert who has given their product extensive publicity in the past.