Important changes to the provision of business nongeographical numbers call services.

The way that customers call non geographic numbers is changing due to new Ofcom regulations. The services that consumers receive when calling non geographic numbers beginning 050,08,09,116 and 118 has been reviewed by Ofcom and they have implemented a number of significant changes to take effect from the 26th June 2015. These changes will demystify the charge rates for calling these numbers and give greater transparency to the customer, whilst bringing commercial stability for the industries that use non geographic numbers.

• • 080 and 116 numbers will be free to call from mobiles as well as landlines, with the cost of this being solely placed upon the operator of the numbers.
  • The tariff structure for numbers starting with 084, 087, 09, 118 will cease to be bundled and instead will have;
    • An access charge for this service set by the originators phone provider.
    • A service charge for the rest of the service set by the phone provider ending the call for the business operating that number and providing the service.

• • The responsibility for setting the access charge for this service will lay with the phone providers who shall communicate it clearly to existing consumers on their bills and shall expressly notify new customers upon commencement of a new contract.
  • The service charge will be standardised across all phone providers and responsibility for specifying the service charge lies with the business operating that number and providing the service, who are required to define their charges in any advertising or communication of the service.
  • Numbers beginning with 0845 are being brought in line with 084 charges.
  • Numbers beginning with 0870 are being brought in line with 087 charges.
  • From 2017 numbers beginning with 050 shall be removed, until 2017 however nothing shall change for this service.