Hanging on the telephone.  On and on and on.

10 March 2005

Marketers often use non-geographic numbers, such as 084 and 087, especially if they have, or want to imply, a nationwide presence.  Indeed, many marketers probably sought such numbers in an attempt to be customer-friendly: 0845 numbers were, for example, normally charged at ‘local rate’: BT customers would normally pay the same for a call to an 0845 number as for a call to a local geographic number.  And BT standard tariff customers would have usually paid the same for an 0870 call as for a call to a national geographic number.  Other phone companies have always been able to charge what they like for 084 and 087 numbers; mobile companies, for example, often charged significantly more.

But the link between BT’s local and national geographic call price and 0845 and 0870 prices has been steadily eroding.  In the most recent move, in July 2004, BT abolished its standard rate for the vast majority of its customers and moved most of its domestic fixed line customers from the BT standard tariff to the BT Together Option 1 package.  Those customers now pay a slightly higher line rental but, in return, pay the same for all geographic local and national calls: only 5.5p for the first hour in the evening and at weekends and 3p a minute during weekdays. Hardly any BT domestic customers still pay the BT standard local or national call rates for geographic calls and 0845 and 0870 calls.  The charges for most BT domestic customers (who are on a BT Together call package) for 0845 and 0870 calls are very different from what they now pay for geographic calls. 

OFCOM recently undertook a public consultation on the future of 084 and 087 numbers and has indicated that an initial assessment of responses suggest that consumers and service providers unanimously agree that describing 087 and 084 numbers as ‘national’ and ‘local’ is misleading and most are concerned about how those numbers are advertised.  Consumer responses, especially, suggest confusion about price (confirmed by OFCOM quantitative consumer opinion research) and a feeling of being ripped off.

OFCOM has sought help from CAP on how charges to 087 and 084 numbers should be expressed now that the ‘standard’ local and national rates are verging on the notional.  After consultation, the CAP Executive believes that, because of potential consumer confusion, ads should not remain silent on call cost.  CAP understands that BT customers pay no more than 5p a minute (or per call) for calls to 084 numbers and no more than 10p a minute (or per call) for calls to 087 numbers and that those charges are highly unlikely to increase in future. 

Consequently, the CAP Copy Advice team advises:

• Marketers should not describe 084 and 087 numbers as ‘local’ or ‘national’
• Marketers should not be silent on price
• Marketers are unlikely to know the maximum charges for calling their services made by non-BT phone companies (largely because there are so many of them and their prices change reasonably frequently).  If they do, they should state the maximum cost of the call or price per minute (ppm)
• Those marketers who do not know the maximum cost charged across the different phone companies should state the cost (either per minute or per call) for BT customers.  For example, marketers could claim “Calls to 084XX from BT landlines will cost 5p pm”. 
• Marketers who feature several 084 (or 087) numbers in their ads should be careful not to mislead if those numbers are charged at different rates.  In such circumstances, marketers should state a maximum cost, either per minute or total call, for BT callers.  For example, they could claim “Calls to our customer service line, IT helpline and order line cost up to 5p a minute for BT customers” or similar.
• Marketers should make clear that the price of calls from other phone companies will vary and, if space allows, callers might want to check with their phone company
• If call charges are likely to change, marketers should avoid media with a long shelf-life.  If choosing such media, marketers should give a prominent date at which the stated price applied or will apply.