by jonboy29red » 03 Aug 2008 17:26
by Readingfanman » 03 Aug 2008 18:48
by North Somerset Royal » 03 Aug 2008 22:13
by Sarah Star » 03 Aug 2008 22:23
by cheeryoleary » 06 Aug 2008 13:20
Ofcom has finally set out proposals to strengthen consumer protection. Initially this was a consultation paper then in May these were changed to recommendations which should be in place by Autumn 08.
The Proposals
National rate to mean national rate. Mainstream home phone providers won't be able to charge more for dialling 0870 numbers than they charge for a normal national call. Other providers, wanting to charge more will need to make sure their customers know how much the call will cost or face possible fines. This also means that 0870 numbers should be included in ‘free calls' packages.
Revenue sharing for 0870s to end. The changes to pricing should mean an end to revenue sharing, so companies won't be able to profit from using such numbers and will be fined if they don’t follow strict rules about how their call prices are publicised.
0871 numbers redefined as premium rates. 0871 will be redefined as premium rate numbers and come under the regulations of PhonePayPlus (which used to be called ICSTIS), the premium rate regulator. This means these numbers and the revenue sharing will be much more tightly controlled.
All this is great news, but the proposals have been in place for a while, and were expected to come into effect in Feb 08, sadly this has now been moved to Autumn 08.
My main worry about the proposal is many companies will just shift from 0870 numbers to 0871 numbers, which will still be able to generate revenue. Some, such as Tiscali, already use these numbers. Ofcom are due to say more about this later in the year.
by Streets » 06 Aug 2008 13:57
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