Ofcom is ignored on 0870

Phone companies are flouting the wishes of industry regulator Ofcom and raising prices for calling 0870 numbers.

Despite pressure from the regulator to bring down charges on these numbers, typically used by call centres, phone companies have instead raised prices - in some cases by as much as four times.

BSkyB and Tiscali have raised charges to 10p a minute and 8p a minute respectively. But T-Mobile has in effect doubled the cost of calling 0870 lines for those on its Flext tariff.

At the moment, Flext customers are charged 10p a minute, but from the end of next month the price will go up to 20p. On some T-Mobile contracts the price could be as high as 40p a minute.

Ofcom has called on phone groups to bring charges for these calls into line with ordinary numbers and to have the calls automatically included in 'bundles' of free minutes.

T-Mobile has instead aligned its 0870 prices with the most expensive calls. T-Mobile said its charges were transparent and that it texted all its customers to warn them of the price rise.

'Not everyone is going to listen to the regulator,' said Tim Wolfenden, head of home services at consumer website uSwitch.com.

Ofcom has been consulting with phone groups on tariffs and will issue a ruling on charges in the autumn, which could finally force phone groups to cut the 0870 charges.

source: Simon Fluendy, Mail on Sunday 22-06-2008

Back to News »