03 UK-wide Numbers
Ofcom's Policy decisions
Ofcom has created a new 03 Phone Number Range to increase certainty, trust and confidence in the Numbers that consumers use to call public services, voluntary organisations and companies that want a national presence, but who do not wish to make an additional charge to consumers for contacting them.
This new Number Ranges is expected to become trusted by consumers as covering clearly-understood services and price ranges. The new range will meet the need for consumer certainty and confidence in making calls, mainly due to the charging features of 03 numbers:
- Consumers will have a clear understanding of the price that they are paying for a call, mainly as call tariffs and call discounts will be required to be the same as if the consumer was calling a geographic (01 or 02) number. This will apply to all call minutes, including ones that are part of the customer's inclusive minutes.
And;
- The use of revenue-sharing will be forbidden on this new range. Consumers calling these numbers should be confident that they will be paying only for the call, and not for any additional services provided by the organisation being called.
The 03 range will thereby address the key customer concerns about many 08 numbers, will align with consumer expectations, and so should increase their willingness to make calls.
Creating 03 does not mean that 08 numbers will disappear. Services requiring small micro-payments will stay on the 08 range, with new number allocations as required by demand. But creating the new 03 range does avoid the need for more types of 08 numbers.
Next Step
If you are interested in using 03 Numbers, then please email sales@ttnc.co.uk, we will keep a record of your details and contact you once we have some more information about the release and activation of the Numbers.