The Consumer Protection Test for telephone number allocation focuses on communications providers who have used numbers to cause serious or repeated harm to consumers.  Ofcom will not allocate 070 personal numbers, 0871/2/3 special service higher rate numbers and 09 premium rate numbers to anyone who appears on either of two lists.

We at TTNC take our responsibility as a service provider very seriously and take best use of numbers and consumer protection into account when assigning telephone numbers to others.

These lists provide us with an incredibly useful reference point. We have included a link to these lists below simply for your interest.

The latest ‘Under Assessment’ and ‘Number Refusal’ lists have been updated here

Ofcom today published a consultation proposing small changes to the National Telephone Numbering Plan, the Numbering General Condition and the telephone numbering application forms within existing numbering policy.

The closing date for responses to the consultation is 8 October 2010.

Ofcom’s consultation can be found here

The latest change to Ofcom’s Competition and Consumer Enforcement Bulletin was made today and relates to open case: CW/01054/08/10 Dispute between Colt and BT about geographic termination rates. The Competition and Consumer Enforcement Bulletin sets out the proposed scope of the dispute and the timeframes for comments, expressions of interest and the provision of evidence.

Please click on the link

PhonepayPlus has today published a consultation on its new Strategic Plan for 2011/14. The document sets out the key elements of the Plan for consultation with stakeholders, before the final Plan is published later in 2010.

PhonepayPlus published its first Strategic Plan covering 2008/11 in 2007. The objectives of this first Plan included developing a more proactive approach to consumer protection through building effective relationships with the industry. The aim of this industry outreach was to increase compliance with regulation through better understanding on both sides and also to ensure PhonepayPlus’ work was informed by the needs of industry.

This strategic approach has led to a significant decrease in the levels of consumer complaints about premium rate services and has reduced the level of serious consumer harm in the market. Engagement with the industry has also led to the development of a new, more targeted regulatory framework comprising of a flexible, outcomes-based Code of Practice and an industry Registration Scheme, both launching in 2011.

The objectives set out in the new draft Strategic Plan for 2011/14 are designed to underpin the next stage of development of PRS regulation, building on the success of the current plan. Paul Whiteing, PhonepayPlus’ Chief Executive said:

“PhonepayPlus is putting in place new processes and structures that will mean we can better protect consumers by closer working with the industry. Together with the new Code and industry Registration Scheme, this will help us build-in compliance to premium rate services and continue to build consumer trust in the market.”

The consultation will be open for 10 weeks, closing on 12 November 2010, and PhonepayPlus seeks responses to its proposals from consumers, the industry and other stakeholders.

Click here to read PhonepayPlus’ consultation on its Strategic Plan for 2011/14.

Ofcom today published a statement on its review of retail and wholesale ISDN 30 markets. ISDN 30 is a product that provides between 8 and 30 digital telephone lines for businesses.

Following consultation, Ofcom has today decided to remove retail regulations on BT as the retail market is now competitive but maintain wholesale regulations to ensure the retail market continues to function well.

Ofcom’s statement can be found here

Ofcom has published its annual Communications Market Report into the UK’s TV, radio, broadband, telecoms and mobile industries. This year’s report shows that consumers are spending almost half of their waking hours using media and communications. The report also reveals that although usage is increasing, spend on communications services continues to decrease.

The report can be found here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/cmr

Separately, Ofcom has also published Communications Market Reports for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. The reports highlight trends in take up and use of communications in the devolved Nations and the English Regions.

The reports can be found here:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/cmrengland

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/cmrscotland

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/cmrwales

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/cmrnorthernireland

The latest change to Ofcom’s Competition and Consumer Enforcement Bulletin was made today and relates to closed case: CW/01042/01/10 Dispute between BT and each of Vodafone, T-Mobile, O2, Orange, H3G, and Everything Everywhere about BT’s termination charges for 0845 and 0870 calls.

Please click on the link to read more

The latest change to Ofcom’s Competition and Consumer Enforcement Bulletin was made today and relates to closed compliance case: CW/00998/09/08 Own-initiative investigation into Telephonics Integrated Telephony Limited about sales and marketing and the use of information obtained during the transfer process.

To view more, please click on this link

Ofcom commissioned a research study on mobile location technology in order to gain a better understanding of the systems, technology and capabilities required for provision of location information during emergency calls from mobile phones.

The research can be found here

The Independent Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA2) today published its update for July 2010. This shows that at the end of July there were 6.92 million unbundled lines and 6.01 million Wholesale Line Rental lines. The number of telephone numbers using Carrier Pre-Select was 3.31 million.

The update can be found here: http://www.offta.org.uk/