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The 0870 Consultation Proposals were due to come into effect in early 2008,
meaning that 0870 revenue was due to cease at the beginning of 2008. Towards
the end of 2007 Ofcom realised there was a serious flaw in the plan and as a
result they needed extra time to consider the 0870 proposals.
Ofcom have explained that they have taken this extra time to reconsider
whether they should require the use of pricing announcements after it became
clear they might cause serious problems for machine to machine calls including
personal, fire and burglar alarms, leading to potential life threatening
consequences.
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Ofcom are again proposing changes to the way 0870 calls are charged but have
modified their proposals in light of the problems the announcements would have
caused.
Instead of announcements Ofcom are proposing that Communications Providers
who wish to charge more for 0870 calls than for geographic calls would be
subject to new requirements to display 0870 call charges prominently on price
lists and advertising material, combined with an active programme of
enforcement.
Under the new proposals it is unlikely that revenue sharing on the 0870 range
will continue as Ofcom are also proposing to remove 0870 numbers from the scope
of the NTS conditions. Ofcom will not ‘ban’ revenue sharing on 0870 numbers,
but it is likely to come to an end because the combination of price reductions
and the removal of 0870 calls from the scope of the NTS conditions will mean
that the revenue the Communication Provider receives for 0870 calls may be
insufficient for them to offer a share to businesses.
Ofcom advised in October 2008 that their statement regarding 0870 revenue share payments ‘should’ be made by Christmas this year. As this has not happened, revenue sharing on 0870 numbers will continue into quarter 1 of 2009.
We expect that regulation regarding 0870 revenue payments will change some time in 2009 and that Ofcom will give a 3month notice period before the changes come into effect. The outcome of this will be an end to revenue sharing on 0870 numbers and caller charges being capped at the applicable national rate of the caller’s network provider at the same date. As pre-notified, Operators will therefore need to introduce call delivery pence per minute charges to cover the intelligent network routing costs of the 0870 numbers.
Once the statement has been released and the impacts assessed, Elite will confirm the changes and endeavour to notify you of the pence per minute delivery charges as quickly as possible. At a minimum there will be 1 months notice before the charges come into effect and Elite continues to stress that to avoid such charges customers must change their 08 numbers to another number range such as 0871 and 0844. Elite has been pro-actively working with customers to migrate them to new ranges in order that all customers who do not wish to remain on 0870 numbers are at no risk of having any 0870 call traffic come the date when revenue is stopped.
There is still time to choose the most suitable alternative number range for your business and get the new numbers in place before call delivery charges begin. Elite can provide advice on available ranges, memorable numbers, running both number ranges in parallel and connection to intelligent routing and IVR Services. Please contact us on 0871 6633 222
Businesses need to be prepared for this and plan ahead. Contact Elite today and
receive expert advice on the best course of action for your business.
0844 Phone Numbers | 0845 Phone Numbers | 0870 Phone Numbers | 0871 Phone Numbers | 0800 Freephone Numbers
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