0800 Really, Really Free

Ofcom, who as you know, are currently on their white steed doing good deeds, are at it again.

They’re consulting on a new schema for non-geographic numbers so that it’s clearer what calls to the different number groups will cost.

The headline is that calls to 0800 numbers will be free, no matter what you use to call them with – including your mobile; which is nice.

This is very good news but you have to ask why they were allowed not to be free to start with, why it’s taken so long to do anything about it and why it won’t change for ages yet – 2015?

By the way, If you don’t want to wait until 2015 to get free calls to 0800 numbers from your mobile, here’s how you can do it from today

http://www.voipfone.co.uk/Free_0800_mobile.php

Ofcom are reviewing all the non-geographic ranges to attempt some consistency, but they seem to have chosen a two part charge, which, it seems to me, is going to result in another mess.

But more on thas later, meanwhile, this is their proposed numbering guide: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/images/consultations/nongeofigure1