INWG News - updated 23 December 2005

Ofcom Consultation – NTS: A Way Forward

INWG has been engaging with Ofcom regarding the above consultation.

Ofcom is undertaking this consultation in order to update the regulatory and financial framework in which NTS (Number Translation Services) operate. Ofcom are correctly concerned that callers have no clear information about call costs, as apart from BT and Kingston, each telecommunications company has the right to charge whatever it feels their customers can pay. This is especially true of some Mobile phone companies that sometimes charge more than 50p per minute to connect to an 0800 FreeFone number.

There is also confusion about so-called national and lo-call numbers. Some people even think that 08 numbers are Premium Rate Numbers, charged at very high rates. Ofcom proposals make this confusion much worse by proposing to ask the Premium Rate regulator, ICSTIS, to control 0871 numbers. This needs to be stopped and cleared up.

In the main, however, the consultation is not about NTS, but about the Special Services Number Range, 08. Groups such as Say No to 0870 have put this forward as a Consumer issue. NTS is a very wide area of telecommunications, and it refers to methods by which one dialed phone number can be recognised at Public Network level and then sent to specialist telecoms companies who manage the calls in the network on behalf of the receiver, to give the caller the best possible outcome. This often includes sending the calls on to various company offices where staff are free to help, and which have different telephone numbers. Hence is derived the term Number Translation Services.

Like all generic proposals, one size does NOT fit all.
In fact, one of the possible effects of the new Ofcom proposals, is that many services, which callers and providers now take for granted – from ordering the late-night Pizza to a new mother in distress being able to contact the National Childbirth Trust’s Local Breastfeeding Counsellor – may be no longer be available, not least because of the new additional costs the Ofcom proposals may impose on those service providers, especially Charities that work for the good of all.

INWG is deeply concerned that issues that affect all members of our UK society are not being properly understood and debated. Worse, Ofcom seems to be about to make inappropriate decisions based on possible self-interested advice from major telecommunications suppliers, and on research carried out on its behalf that appears superficial and lacking in technical and commercial understanding at best.

INWG has already pointed out many of these apparent failings to Ofcom, and the fact that many of the Ofcom proposals now seem built on sand, rather than a firm foundation. Indeed, Ofcom is aware that some of the proposals it is now suggesting cannot be put into place, as the number ranges they suggest moving services to cannot at the moment support those services, and even if they could, there are not enough numbers available in any case.
That’s why INWG is trying to make sure Ofcom makes no rushed major changes before the new Strategic Number Review is even started. Ofcom admits that this review may affect anything done now, anyway, and that may mean further costs and changes.

INWG is working closely with Ofcom. We need your help and support to make sure that essential services can be delivered, and at the same time make sure that the caller is protected by knowing clearly what they will be charged. Ofcom also want to ensure the best for all. We can help them help us all by supporting the five INWG proposals.

The INWG Five Proposals :

1. That NO RADICAL changes be made in the current NTS environment until completion of the Strategic Numbering Review.
2. The formal and permanent de-linking of 08 Special Services from any geographical definition.
3. The formal and permanent de-linking of 08 Special Services from association with any Premium Rate Services, by
   1. The exclusion of any “Adult” or inappropriate services from the 08 range,
      that really should be on 09 Premium Rate numbers
   2. and by excluding any ICSTIS involvement in the 08 number ranges.
4. That even before the Strategic Number Review, 0845 and 0870 numbers move into a rate-capped environment, in line with rest of the 08 caller charged numbers, to stop confusion for the caller.
5. To propose on behalf of all UK citizens, for our own protection, that the same call charges for all 08 Special Service numbers be consistent across all Originating Operators, be they Fixed Line or Mobile Network Operators.

To view our detailed response, as submitted to Ofcom, please click here.

If you agree with our approach, to join us please click here. If you do not agree we us then join us and make your views known, we are always ready to listen.