Phone Channel -
OFCOM Proposals on 0870 Numbers
1. How will Ofcom’s proposals address consumers’ concerns about the high costs of calling NTS numbers, especially 0870?
All communications providers would be required to charge customers exactly the same rate for 0870 calls as they do for national geographic calls or to make an announcement stating the call price. Ofcom expects that most communications providers would choose to charge 0870 calls at their geographic rates.
For example under Ofcom’s new proposals, BT customers on the BT Together Option 1 package would pay only 3p per minute for a daytime call to 0870, instead of the current 7.5p per minute charge.
Ofcom also proposes to withdraw the regulatory support for revenue sharing on 0870.
Ofcom is also proposing a package of measures to improve consumer awareness of call charges. For example:
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Extending premium rate services regulation to the 0871 range would make services operating on this range subject to ICSTIS price publication rules;
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Modifying General Condition 14 to require communications providers including mobiles to give greater prominence to their NTS call prices in price lists, websites etc;
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Requiring pre-announcement of prices for 0870 calls where the price exceeds the communications provider’s equivalent geographic price;
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Ofcom will continue to provide support to the Advertising Standards Authority/Committee of Advertising Practice for its guidance to advertisers on how NTS call charges should be advertised.
2. Will Ofcom’s new approach mean an end to revenue sharing on 0870 numbers? If so - how? Why not just ban revenue sharing on 0870?
Communications providers would be required to charge their chosen geographic price for 0870 calls or to make an announcement stating the call charge. Ofcom also proposes to remove the regulatory support for revenue sharing (by removing the 0870 range from the scope of the BT NTS Call Origination Condition). In practice, Ofcom expects these two measures would bring an end to revenue sharing on 0870.
3. How will the changes proposed on 0870 bring prices for consumers down?
After the 12 month interim period proposed, the National Telephone Numbering Plan (“the Plan”) would be amended to require all communications providers to charge 0870 at their chosen geographic rate, including applicable discounts, or to provide a free-of-charge pre-announcement stating the price of 0870 calls before connecting the call.
This means most consumers would pay the equivalent of geographic call prices according to their chosen discount arrangements. In the majority of cases these prices are considerably lower than existing 0870 prices.
For example in the case of BT Together Option 1 customers, prices would fall from 7.5 pence per minute (ppm) to 3ppm during the day (with a 5p minimum charge), 3.75ppm to to 5.5p per hour (and 1ppm after one hour) at evenings and weekends (prices quoted include VAT).
4. Organisations that use 0870 numbers and wish to charge more than the geographic rate must pre-announce the call price. How will this work in practice?
If the proposals are adopted, Ofcom anticipates that most communications providers would wish to offer competitive prices for 0870 calls and would therefore choose to charge at the same rate as for ordinary geographic calls.
However, they would be allowed to charge more on condition that they inform their customers before each call. Customers dialling 0870 numbers that are priced above the geographic rate would hear a short pre-recorded message before they are connected to the service. The message would spell out exactly how much the call would cost and callers would not be charged for listening to the message.