Agreed, 070 should be ONLY for mobiles and personal numbers, with a ceiling of about 10p per minute and NO PART OF IT going to the user.

I too share previous posters feelings about the 070 numbers being used for nefarious purposes....a lot of people don't realise that calls to 070 numbers are charged at higher than usual land-line rates....

So, what with 0870, 090 and 070 numbers all being charged at a premium, it's about time OFCOM did something on the charging side and made them ALL the same rate....

Then we all know that if it's not a 01 or 02 prefix, that it's more expensive (as we already know with calls to normal mobile numbers).

If we're going to keep local call rate numbers, then let's start them with say 0500, (like some of them used to be).

And FREEPHONE can then start 00 - it then gets simpler to know what it all costs

IYAM, it's all a big rip-off.....!

You need to do a bit of research.

03 number are being phased in. For profit 08 numbers are on the way out.

As a brief guide:

0800 Free

0845 Local rate (only telco makes money)

0870 National rate (called party gets small percentage of money)

09's are all charged above standard rates

1's are services charged are special rates above normal.

The changes other people are asking for are already on their way.

'Personal numbering' in the 070 range will have moved to the 06 range by mid-2009, and there will be a ceiling to the cost of calls to these numbers. It will be possible for call charges to these services to cost more than this ceiling, but if they do they will have to start with a free announcement about the cost of the call, giving people an opportunity to hang up and hence making them far less attractive.

This was all announced in Ofcom's July 2006 report "Telephone Numbering - Safeguarding the future of numbers".

Both the summary and the full report can be read from this page:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/numberingreview/statement/

It's all been planned at least since phONEday in '95 - and available in the Q&As for that for starters.

This is (formerly) OfTel's The Big Number Q&A from over 8 years ago:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/1999/consumer/qanum999.htm

Thanks for the correction - silly me, I forgot about the 00 for international (shows how much I use land-lines for international - in fact I use Skype !!)....but that's not to say it can't be changed...coz international usually costs even more than 090's....

As you might have guessed, dear reader, I was suggesting it was made simpler, if OFCOM just changed the system so that the higher the prefix number, the more costly the phone call...

But I was "hoisted by my own petard" a bit....!

Still....I suppose phoning Paris Hilton on an international call might be worth it...! Anyone got her number??

Many non-geographic numbers cannot be dialed from outside the UK. This includes 0870, 0500, and even 0800 in some cases. I have had personal experience with all three, from different countries (Germany and Belgium).

Nothing is more infuriating than getting a "keine anschluss mit dieser nummer" [your call cannot be connected with this number] error when you're trying to get hold of your bank to discuss something important while you're abroad on business.

If more companies knew of the potential business they were losing for that puny "profit" margin on their 0870 number, they'd think twice before using 0870. Some savvy corporations supply a geographical direct-dial number for international users, but it would seem that not everyone had twigged that their phone number is only usable by a limited audience...

Oliver.