The regulator also said that it is considering scrapping the 070
numbers because users think the numbers are mobile phones, and
moving personal numbers on to the empty 06 number range. Calls to
personal numbers from mobile phones can cost as much as £2 for a 10
or 15-second call.
Callers to personal numbers have in the past called 070 numbers
thinking they are mobiles and have been shocked at the sometimes
high cost of making the call. That has prompted Ofcom to deal with
the price issue by making sure that customers are warned before
making any call.
"For 070 PNs [personal numbers] Ofcom has provided a degree of
protection to consumers calling those numbers," said Ofcom's
announcement. "If a call to a 070 number costs more than 20p (per
minute or per call), customers will get a free-to-caller pre-call
announcement about the charge involved. Such pre-announcements
should be provided from 1st September 2007. Whilst the exact
wording of the pre-call announcement may differ between content
providers, we would expect all customers to be better protected by
this measure."
One person who has been affected by the high price of personal
numbers is Jim Clark. He tells this week's technology law podcast
OUT-LAW Radio of his attempts to find
out who was behind a call that cost him £2.
He missed a call on his mobile phone from a number that began
with the digits 070. Not knowing about personal numbers and
assuming it was from a mobile phone, Clark returned the call, only
to hear a message saying that the number did not accept calls.
Suspicious, he phoned his mobile operator's automated billing
service to discover that the 15 second call had cost him £2. He
then discovered that his wife, whose phone number is similar to
his, had had the same experience just minutes later.
"I found the whole episode a wee bit suspicious," said Clark. "I
found out the call cost £2, which enraged me slightly. I thought
that every 07 was a mobile number, I didn't know differently."
Clark's mobile operator Virgin Mobile refunded him and his wife
the £2 call cost, but he said that the public should have more
protection against what he thinks was a scam.
"I know that it's only £2 and it's a triviality, but it's
something that when I found that nobody could do anything about it
it really disturbed me," said Clark. "The fact that Ofcom didn't
want to know, ICSTIS didn't want to know, Virgin didn't want to
know; three people were all targeted by it and that just isn't
right."
Ofcom said that it would have acted had Clark got in touch
through its contact centre rather than by including an Ofcom board
memo in an email of complaint, while ICSTIS said that it only dealt
with 070 numbers if they are being used for a premium rate style
service.
An Ofcom spokesman said that the regulator was aware that the
fact that personal numbers begin in 070 causes confusion and makes
callers think they are phoning a mobile phone. He said that Ofcom
hoped to switch personal numbers over to the 06 number range by the
end of the year.
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