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.
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.
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
We’ve recently been receiving quite a few enquiries about the 03 UK Wide number range; clearly awareness is growing of this new range of numbers.
Ofcom released the 03 number range as an alternative to the 08 number ranges we’re all familiar with. The 08 numbers still have their place; 03 numbers aren’t intended to replace them fully, but they do provide an alternative with a key benefit.
It’s probably the case now that more people are making calls from their mobile phones than landlines. Some people are abandoning fixed landlines in their homes altogether, just making use of the phone they have with them all the time.
This is why the 03 number range is beginning to grow in popularity, potentially over the 08 number ranges.
Instantly there’s a key benefit for businesses. The ability to present themselves on a national scale, just like the 08 numbers, but without their customers having to pay a high price just to call them. Suddenly the customer grows in confidence, feeling able to contact the business, hopefully more often, increasing their loyalty to that business.
In the same way, if a customer has a free minute plan with a landline provider, calls to 03 numbers can again be included.
Within the 03 numbers, there is a particular range dedicated to charity, non-profit and public sector organisations. That range begins 030.
To read Ofcoms guidance on bodies eligible for an 030 number, click below:
We have thousands of numbers in this range to choose from. As always there are numbers from £25 all the way up to our most memorable numbers at £595 (prices exc. VAT). The costs to our users are exactly the same as using a UK Geographic number in terms of diverting calls to a UK landline or mobile.
For more information – Read about our 03 numbers here
Ofcom today published a call for inputs which seeks initial stakeholder views on its review of non-geographic phone numbers (03, 070, 08, 09 and 118).
The document can be found here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/ngnservices/
PhonepayPlus today published an interim update on the development of a Registration Scheme for premium rate service (PRS) providers that includes a six-week consultation on a key question regarding its implementation.
In 2010, the regulator will launch a new Code of Practice that, if approved, will for the first time place an emphasis on desired outcomes for consumers rather than prescriptive rules on how services should operate. The proposed new Code will also distribute regulatory responsibility along the value chain, including content businesses that market directly to consumers.
Key to this new approach is a proposed mandatory registration for all PRS providers. This will deliver a number of benefits: businesses will find it easier to carry out due diligence on their partners; consumers will be able to quickly find answers to questions about a service they have used or seen advertised; and because PhonepayPlus will link its adjudications to businesses and their directors, a light will be shone on rogue providers that sometimes give the market a bad name.
The update outlines the Scheme’s objectives and governing principles and explains our thinking on its scope; the information we would require businesses to provide; and how it should be paid for.
We are also seeking views on our intention to proceed with the implementation of the Scheme despite the fact that the Code has not yet been consulted on, nor approved by, Ofcom. In light of a challenging implementation time-frame, we are conducting a six-week consultation that ends on 25 May.
Please click here to view the update which includes details on how to respond to this limited consultation exercise.
We’re really pleased to let you know that we’ve reduced our Call Forwarding Charges to mobiles by 2 pence across the board. This isn’t a special offer; it’s a permanent change. This means that all our customers, old and new, forwarding their calls to a mobile will get more talk time from their call credit.
Freephone (0800/0808) numbers can now be forwarded to a mobile at a rate of 14 pence per minute (down from 16 pence per minute), while our other ranges have had the forwarding rate reduced to 12 pence per minute (down from 14 pence per minute).
So, if on average you spend £25 on call credit a month forwarding a freephone number to a mobile, you now get about 20mins more talk time each month . Over the course of a year, this is a saving of nearly £40.
There’s nothing you have to do, these new rates are active on all accounts from now .
Global Communication Solutions is in administration, nearly 10,000 business customers have been affected, for more information please visit www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk to read more.
If you are affected by these events please visist our information page GCS Administration Information or alternatively to reactivate your number with TTNC please visit our transfer page to register.
As of Tuesday 23rd March 2010, Global Communication Solutions Ltd (GCS) is now in Administration prior to a Liquidation.
For customers of GCS looking for information and advice about what you can do with your numbers, follow the links below:
Ofcom today confirmed that it will allocate a new memorable three-digit phone number – 111 – for NHS non-emergency healthcare services. This will enable the Department of Health to introduce the service to make it easier for patients to access healthcare in their local area.
The statement can be found here: New 111 Non-Emergency Number
