070 Pre Call Announcement
Ofcom's Determination Regarding 070 Pre Call Announcement
On 13th February 2007 Ofcom issued a statement and consultation entitled "Raising Confidence in Telephone Numbers". This statement places a requirement on call originators to provide free to caller pre call announcements on all calls to 070 Personal Numbers (PNs) charged above 20 pence per minute (ppm) or 20 pence per call (ppc) from the 1st September 2007.
Ofcom is doing this to increase consumer protection from abuses on some existing 070 personal numbering services. Consumers often confuse personal numbers with mobile numbers and are often unaware of the potential charges involved in making calls to PNs.
The Pre Call Announcement from BT
BT has issued the following statement;
From 1st September 2007 all calls to PNs that originate on the BT network, for which BT Retail charges more than 20 ppm or 20 ppc (inclusive of VAT), will receive a free to caller announcement.
The announcement will advise the caller of the maximum cost of a call of this type from a BT landline, and will last approximately 20 seconds.
The pre call announcement will contain the following, or similar, wording: "You have dialled a Personal Number, which starts 070. This is not a Mobile Number. 070 calls from BT cost up to 50 pence per minute or a fixed fee of up to 51 pence. Charges from other service providers, payphones and via the operator may vary. You have not been charged for this message. Hold to be connected."
This will be followed by a 2 to 3 second pause before connecting the call.
Please Note: Other Originating Operators announcements and costs may vary.