Okay so last week the industry regulator Ofcom announced that that they would like all mobile networks to include 08 numbers in the allowance of minutes and messages that come with mobile phone contracts. Ofcom believe that the pricing of 08 numbers is much too confusing and that many customers are still unaware that they will be charged extra for calling. Ofcom say that the numbers are classed as local or national numbers and so should be charged accordingly, since ‘normal’ landline numbers are included, 08 numbers should also be.
UK network T-Mobile have said that they will indeed be changing the pricing of 08 numbers on their network, however, all is not as it seems. T-Mobile have announced the following:
“To make things clearer for our customers, we have aligned our 08 number charges with local and national calls to follow the latest Ofcom guidelines. These calls aren't included as part of your allowance in any of our price plans.”
So if T-Mobile is your network as of July 28th 2008 0871, 0870, 0844 and 0845 numbers will cost the following to call:
Plan - Old Cost to New Cost
Flext - 10p to 20p
Combi - 10p to 30p
Solo - 10p to 30p
Everyone Off Peak - 10p to 30p off peak/5p peak
My Faves - 10p to 30p
Freetime - 10p to 40p off peak/5p peak
Family - 10p to 20p
So Ofcom have announced that they would like mobile networks to not charge for 08 numbers...and T-Mobile have announced that they will be increasing them! So if you are with T-Mobile and call 08 numbers a lot be careful as they will soon cost a lot more!
