Ofcom 0870 Update

Ofcom has advised that a statement on the regulation supporting 0870 number revenue share payments should be made by Christmas this year.

Ofcom regulation supporting 0870 revenue share payments are expected to change at some stage in 2009 and it is expected that Ofcom will provide a three month notification period before the changes come into effect. The likely outcome of this will be the end to 0870 revenue share payments and caller charges being capped at the applicable National Rate of the callers’ network provider at the same date. The caller charges currently vary significantly depending on the network they are calling from, with charges possibly being higher than the published National rates. This Ofcom driven change is designed to remove consumer concern about the cost of calling 0870 numbers.

Alternatives to 0870 numbers for businesses

It is recommended that you should consider whether your business wishes to stay on 0870 numbers when pence per minute call delivery charges are introduced, if your business hasn’t already considered this.

0844 and 0843 numbers, charged at between 1 to 5 pence per minute for callers, have been popular with those 0870 customers to date who have made changes and there will not be any pence per minute call delivery charges for your business. 0871numbers are also available with caller charges between 6 to 10 pence per minute, but there are PhonepayPlus regulations with this number range. Moving to these number ranges will ensure your business avoids additional charges.

03 numbers have also proved popular with 0870 customers, especially since the BBC moved from its 0870 number range to its 0370 number range.

If you would like one of our telecommunications consultants to contact you for further advice, please email contact@it-cts.com with your details.

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