It seems 0845 numbers are moving to the 0345 prefix and will then fall within inclusive packages offered by telephone companies. For those with long memories, you may remember these types of numbers used to be 0345 and then moved over to 0845 in 2001 - so it is going back from where it came!
The 0345 and 0645 numbers of the 1980s and 1990s were nine digits long. Those were converted to ten-digit 0845 numbers in 2000. BT (and a very few others) nowadays do a special deal and include 0845 numbers within call plan allowances. 0845 calls remain expensive from all mobiles and from most landlines.
The 03 range remained unused from 2000 to 2007. Calls to the new type of ten-digit 03 numbers (030, 033, 034, 037) cost the same as calling 01 and 02 numbers and count towards inclusive allowances on landlines and mobile phones. For most callers, these are very much cheaper than calls to 084 and 087 numbers.
It seems not all phone companies, including mine, have opened up their systems to the change yet.
It appears this particular 0345 number is not yet live. All phone companies allow access to 03 numbers and all charge them at exactly the same rate as whatever they charge for calling 01 and 02 numbers. This rule is set by Ofcom.
By June 2014 all 084 and 087 numbers for customer service, complaints, renewals and cancellations must move to an 0345 number.
Only existing 0845 users can move to an 0345 number. Users of other 084 and 087 numbers can move to the matching 034 or 037 number or to a new 01, 02, 030, 033 or 080 number.
I know of at least one company that has just moved from 0800 to 0845, giving the reason 0845 is cheaper from the majority of mobile providers than 0800.
0800 is almost always cheaper than 0845 when called from mobiles. 0800 is free from all landlines. 0845 is inclusive on BT call plans and expensive from most other landlines. The move to 0845 was a backwards step. They probably think 0845 calls are "local rate". This hasn't been true since 2003.
0800 numbers come with a running cost for the business. 0845 numbers are often supplied free of charge because callers cover those running costs by paying a 2p/min Service Charge hidden within the call price. Under Ofcom's "unbundled tariffs" scheme, users will have to declare this Service Charge from 2015.
Ofcom plan to make calls to 0800 numbers free from all mobile phones in 2015. If anything, this company should have moved to an 03 number (probably 033) or offered an 03 number in parallel with the 0800 number.
It also means the end of revenue sharing from such Customer Service numbers, whereby the company receiving the call could (depending on the exact 084x or 087x number) take a cut of the call cost from every call to them.
Yes. Revenue sharing will continue on 084 and 087 numbers but businesses will no longer be allowed to use those types of numbers for customer service. The most obvious solution is to use the matching 034 or 037 number. 03 numbers are charged the same as calling 01 and 02 numbers and revenue sharing is not allowed.
A few years ago now, my previous employer operated our helpline on an 0345 number: that was charged to any landline caller as a local rate call, irrespective of the time of day, and our company took no revenue at all from such calls.
We then had to switch over to an 0845 number, when 0345 numbers at that time were discontinued. We did so, and landline callers to our new 0845 number were still charged at the local rate, irrespective of the time of day, with our company continuing to take no revenue at all from such calls.
Now, however, it appears 0845 numbers are being changed back to 0345 numbers ... so what was the point of all that corporate number / advertising / literature reprinting and switching?
In the 1980s and 1990s, the old nine-digit 0345 numbers were charged at local rate from BT landlines. In 2000, nine-digit 0345 and 0645 numbers were converted to ten-digit 0845 numbers and continued to be charged at local rate from BT landlines. In the meantime many other landline providers had appeared and mobile usage had massively increased. 0845 calls are expensive from many landlines and very expensive from mobiles.
In 2003, BT prices for calling 01 and 02 numbers were deregulated. BT scrapped the price differential between local and national rate when calling 01 and 02 numbers. BT also moved callers on to inclusive price plans: 'Weekend', 'Evening and Weekend' or 'Anytime'. Calls to 0845 numbers from landlines suddenly became much more expensive than calls to 01 and 02 numbers because they were not inclusive. Since around 2010 or 2011 the Anytime plan has been the most popular.
When calling an 0845 number, the call price includes a 2p/min Service Charge to the benefit of the called party. Since 2009, BT has effectively "hidden" this fee by offering inclusive calls to 0845 numbers. However, these calls remain expensive for callers without a call plan, and for callers on other landline networks or using a mobile phone. BT has much less than half of the landline market. More than half of all calls are made from mobile phones. BT will be unable to "hide" the Service Charge once call prices are "unbundled". 0845 calls will no longer be inclusive within monthly allowances.
The new range of ten-digit 0345 numbers (and all other 03 numbers for that matter) are charged at the same rate as calling 01 and 02 numbers and count towards inclusive allowances. This makes 03 numbers substantially cheaper (than 0845 numbers) to call for the vast majority of callers.
I remember seeing a tariff a few years ago that showed that the cost of phoning an 0845 / 0870 number varied depending on the next digit or two. It may have been on the T-Mobile website and of course is probably cheaper on a landline.
It is calls to 0843, 0844, 0871, 0872 and 0873 that vary by the first six digits of the telephone number called. These are pure revenue sharing numbers.
I don't think 0345 and 0845 numbers were/are "local" numbers as such, they were marketed by BT when they first came out as "lo-call" numbers in that they were cheaper than national rate numbers, but not necessarily the same connection charge or per minute charge as a true local rate number.
The price of calls to the old nine-digit 0345 numbers, when made from a BT line, was tied to BT local rate in the 1990s. So too with the price of calling the replacement ten-digit 0845 numbers, but only until 2003.
Since 2003, BT has declared a nominal "local rate" call price for a tariff without inclusive minutes, but every BT customer is now on a call plan with at least some inclusive calls to 01, 02 and 03 numbers, even if only at the weekend. Since 2009, BT has also included calls to 0845 numbers within inclusive allowances, but these calls remain expensive from other landlines and from mobiles.
0845 and 0870 are now a fixed price and non-revenue sharing.
0870 has no Service Charge and revenue sharing is not allowed. This has applied since 2009 but this change has done nothing to bring down the cost of calling these numbers from mobiles. Additionally, as soon as revenue share was removed from 0870, many users simply swapped to an 0844 number and callers have saved nothing.
0845 has a 2p/min Service Charge. The call recipient uses this to pay for the call routing at their end of the call. There's usually nothing left over for a revenue share payment. Very large users of 0845 numbers may see half a penny per minute if they are lucky.
Ofcom propose that 0870 returns to revenue sharing in 2015 and all other 084 and 087 numbers continue with revenue sharing. Users of these numbers will have to declare the Service Charge that applies to their number.
Trying to find out what price band a particular 084x or 087x (not 0845 or 0870) is in can be a frustrating affair. I recently called my landline provider to ask in which price band, and how much per minute, a call to a particular 0844 number was. They show a range of price bands in their online price guide (from g1 to g28) but they don't break them down any further than 0844. Customer Services didn't have the info to hand and the guy I spoke with said he knew it was in a paper file somewhere, but he couldn't find the folder!!!
The part you are missing is the list which tells you that 0844 477 is tariff "g6" and 0844 387 is tariff "g11". That's in a separate document. The list for 08 and 09 numbers is hundreds of pages long and each network produces their own version of this list (as each network sets their own prices). BT's prices are regulated such that they make no profit on call origination. Other networks add their markup on top.
Ofcom are going to change the system next year. There will be a single document that lists the Service Charge for each number range. Each user will declare the Service Charge that applies to their number. Each network will declare a single Access Charge that covers all 084, 087 and 09 numbers. The call price will be the Access Charge levied by your phone network plus the Service Charge that applies to the number you are calling.
I had to wait for the call to show online in my 'call usage since last bill', find the relevant call, deduct the connection fee and divide the remainder by the length of the call to find out the per minute cost.
For an 0844 number on the lowest tariff and therefore advertised as costing 0.5p/min, a call of one second duration using BT costs 16p. The 15p connection fee makes short calls very expensive. Connection fees on calls to 084, 087 and 09 numbers are going to be scrapped in 2015. Ofcom will instead mandate that callers will pay the Access Charge and Service Charge for a minimum of one minute (or whatever time limit is eventually decided).
My complaint to my provider that I should be able to know the per minute charge before I make the call has yet to be responded to.
They should be able to direct you to the list that allows you to look up the tariff code based on the initial digits of the telephone number. The fact they didn't do this, shows that the current system is so complicated that even they do not understand it.
Ofcom have a basic copy of the list, but beware that some of the terminology describing the number ranges is outdated and the whole thing is about to be replaced by a much simpler system.
See
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/numbering/s8_code.txtand
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/numbering/s9_code.txtThe per-minute rate part of the BT call price hasn't altered since 1996. BT's call prices are the only ones that are regulated. Other networks charge whatever they like.
The call price regulation covering BT's 084, 087 and 09 call prices will shortly end. Ofcom (or an industry body appointed by Ofcom) will set the level of Service Charge that will in future apply to each of the telephone numbers in those number ranges. That figure will apply for all calls, irrespective of the originating network.
As a general rule of thumb, and subject to the new system being hammered out in intricate detail during 2014, the new Service Charge that will apply for 084, 087 and 09 calls will be approximately the current BT call price, plus
VAT▸ , plus another penny, with this figure then rounded up to the next whole penny.
Current BT call price of "5.1p/min plus 15p connection fee" on tariff "g6" roughly equates to 7p/min Service Charge. This is very much a "rough and ready" estimate but will do for now in understanding the general principles. A Service Charge will also have to be decided for 0870 calls; but it's likely to be around 10p/min.
BT's connection fee, and those on other networks, has relentlessly increased. This will be scrapped for calls to 084, 087 and 09 numbers. The Access Charge that replaces it will be set at a per-minute rate. BT will be free to set whatever rate they want, but it is suspected that it will be very low.
The new system will be very much easier to understand. The fact that phone networks each set and declare a single Access Charge per tariff will make it possible to compare tariffs when considering the price of calling 084, 087 and 09 numbers. It will also be possible for networks to set a zero Access Charge and make this part of the call price inclusive in call plans. If they do, this will have to apply equally to all 084, 087 and 09 numbers.
Ofcom are expected to announce the final details of the new system before the end of 2013. The project is running late as a number of objections to the proposals have been made. Some of the phone companies are saying they believe consumers will be confused by the new level of price transparency. Roughly translated I think that means "once consumers see the real call costs, they'll realise how much they have been ripped off during the last decade or more".
Look out for details of the "unbundled tariffs" system and an announcement about calls to 080 numbers becoming free from all mobiles. An announcement is expected before the end of the year.
