Telecoms regulator Ofcom today published proposals that would mean calling an 0800 number would be free for mobile and smartphone users.
Ofcom said this would clear up confusion about how much it costs to call businesses offering an 0800 number, as operators still charge for mobile calls to them.
“By making calls to 0800 numbers free from all phones, we will clear up any uncertainty about making calls, especially from mobiles, to the benefit of consumers and service providers alike.”
Consumers will also be made more aware of how much of their money goes to operators and how much to the business. They will be told how much, in pence per minute, goes to the phone company and the company providing the service.
According to Ofcom, a mobile user calling an 0800 number would likely hear something like this: “This call will cost you X pence per minute plus your phone company’s access charge.”
Currently, callers are told: “This call will cost you X pence per minute on a BT line, calls may vary on other landline and cost considerably more on a mobile.” Ofcom thinks this is not transparent enough for consumers.
Operators will see a hit from such changes, just as they will through proposed changes to roaming rules. The European Parliament and European Commission announced last week they had reached a preliminary deal on EU roaming rules, which will force mobile operators to reduce the prices of making a call or downloading data when abroad.
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About time. Ofcom is clearly on the side of the mobile operators and as such is part of the "ripoff Britain" problem.It's taken the best part of 20 years to implement such a simple feature(!?)
It must have been said a million times but here it goes again: stop your daytime robbery tactics, we're in the 21st century for God's sake.