Voice

The biggest changes to calls in more than a decade will come into being later this year.

Calls to 0800 and 0808 numbers will become free from landlines and mobiles this summer, while clearer pricing for 08, 09 and 118 calls will also be put in place.

Landline and mobile phone companies are working with Ofcom on a six-month campaign, which launched this month (JAN) under the banner UK Calling, to explain the new changes to customers and consumers.

It is targeting landlines and mobile customers through paper and online bills, as well as text messages, customers magazines, social media updates and through adverts in high street stores. There will also be a prominent advertising campaign covering national newspapers, radio stations and online outlets.

Ofcom, the communications regulator, is co-ordinating the campaign, which is supported by the UK’s largest telephone providers BT, EE, O2, Sky, TalkTalk, Three, Virgin Media and Vodafone. KC, the major operator in Kingston upon Hull, is also involved in the campaign about the changes, which will apply to all consumer mobile and landline phones in the UK.

Ed Richards, Chief Executive of Ofcom, said:

“For a long time there has been a lack of transparency in the cost of calling 08, 09 and 118 numbers. The existing rules are no longer serving the interests of consumers, or indeed phone companies. These changes will be very significant for UK telephone customers, and are designed to help build consumers’ confidence in using the full range of phone services. From next summer, service numbers will be advertised much more clearly, and phone bills will look a little different. We want telephone users to be comfortable with the changes, so we’ll be working closely with phone companies and consumer groups to get the message across as clearly as possible.”

There are two strands to the changes. Ofcom research has shown previously that consumers are confused about how much service numbers cost, and so the clearer call rates for numbers starting 084, 087, 09 or 118 are designed to improve confidence in using them.

Virtually every consumer in the country uses these so-called service numbers in some way, either to find out information or contacting businesses, government departments, or directory enquiry services. But callers to these numbers are not generally told how much they are being charged.

Under the new rules, which were designed by Ofcom, consumers using these numbers will see the cost split into an access charge going to their phone company, plus a service charge set by the company or organisation they are calling.

Phone companies will be responsible for setting their access charge, making it clear to consumers on their bills and informing new customers of the charge when they sign up to a contract.

Separately, the service provider- aka the party being contacted – will specify its service charge wherever it advertises its phone number.

This will make the overall cost easier to calculate, as well as enabling consumers to be able to compare the prices of different service providers more easily, and also choose a provider with a competitive access charge when signing up to a new landline or mobile deal.

At the same time, Freephone numbers which begin 0800 or 0808 will become free for consumers to call from mobile phones, just as they generally are from landlines.

The exact date that the changes come in has not yet been announced by Ofcom, but we will keep you posted!

Major changes are being made to telephone call charges in a move that should benefit both businesses and consumers.

The plans, which will come into place in June 2015, cover numbers starting 08, 09 and 118 and are designed to clear up confusion amongst consumers about how much it costs to dial these non-geographic lines.

These numbers are used by many services, from finding out information to banking, directory enquiry and entertainment services, but users are often not told how much it costs to call them.

Under the new guidelines issued by Ofcom, each call will be broken down into an ‘access charge’ to the user’s phone company and a ‘service charge’ to the company or organisation they are calling.

Phone companies and the organisations using 08, 09 and 118 numbers will both be required to publicise their charges. Phone companies will have to make their charges clear on bills and to new customers signing up to contracts, and the service providers will be required to specify their charge on advertising or when asked.

Currently, for example, TV shows that offer phone voting usually tell users what the cost per minute is from a BT line, but say simply that calls from other phone providers and from mobiles may vary.

From 2015, Ofcom will expect them to use the format of Calls will cost x pence per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge.

The net result of this is that customers will be able to add both charges up and easily see what each call is costing them. It will also make comparing both phone and service providers much simpler.

The new move is not being brought in until 2015 to allow companies using these numbers time to adapt and will only initially apply to calls being made from residential numbers, although business lines are likely to follow suit.

As well as introducing new charges, Ofcom has also simplified some existing anomalies to boost consumer confidence.

• Calls to freephone numbers starting 0800, 0808 and 116, which are usually free from landlines, will become free from mobile phones as well.

• The service charge for premium rate 09 numbers will be capped, and 0845 numbers will no longer be used for geographic calls, functioning instead the same as any other 084, 087 or 09 number.

Ofcom will instead encourage organisations which want to offer a geographic-rate number to use the 03 range, which costs no more than a geographic 01 or 02 number, and must be included in customers’ inclusive minutes or discount schemes.

Ofcom is working with major landline and mobile providers to develop a major, national advertising campaign which will explain the changes to UK telephone users from next year.