Premium phone charges set to drop under new Ofcom rules
CHARGES to premium phone lines are set to get a little bit cheaper under sweeping changes to be introduced in July by the communications regulator Ofcom.
The new rules will affect phone numbers beginning with 08, 09 or 118, which are typically used by customer service and information lines as well as by directory enquiries.
From 1 July onward charges for calls to these non-geographic numbers will be split into an “access” fee from the telecoms provider, and a second “service” fee from the organisation that is being called.
Joe Smithies, senior associate at Ofcom, told Radio 5 Live that the move will encourage competition, resulting in lower prices for customers: “There is some experimentation… but I think what we will see over time is that the market is so competitive in this country that prices will move down.”