Ofcom has today launched a consultation on the introduction of 116 numbers.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/116/

These are for public assistance telephone services as part of a EU plan for harmonised pan-European memorable numbers.


There are two points of interest, with relevance to other issues covered in this forum.

Firstly, Ofcom recognises that the term "freephone" is misleading in the UK and proposes that this is not used for services that are genuinely "free to caller".

Secondly, number allocation in this range will be undertaken on a different basis to that which has been used up to now. It is proposed that numbers will be allocated primarily to service providers, rather than telcos. This is the approach that was sought for the 03 public sector ranges, but was not delivered by Ofcom.

I think another point is important.  Their assesment that all calls should be free, but some services should be "free to caller" and some "freephone" - i.e. 40p/min or more from mobiles:
Quote:

In order to distinguish between different charging arrangements in this document, the term ‘freephone’ is used to describe the situation where calls can be charged for provided there is a non-chargeable announcement at the start of the call to inform the caller, i.e. calls which are commonly charged from mobiles. The term ‘free to caller’ is used to describe the situation where calls are always free, including from mobiles.

Quote:

Within the constraints of the Decision, the options for charging arrangements are: Charging option 1: all 116 numbers are ‘freephone’ Charging option 2: all 116 numbers are ‘free to caller’ Charging option 3: 116 numbers are either ‘freephone’ or ‘free to caller’ on an individual basis

Ofcom prefer option 3.

I strongly disagree with this. Why muddy the waters before they are even here.  All 116 calls should be "free to caller" whatever, otherwise nobody will know if a call is truely free or not, and this will put people off calling.  After all, who knows how much a random 118 or 0844 number is going to cost in advance, without having to look it up.  Why stress out an abused kid looking for help even further by ensuring they don't know if they've enough credit to call?

If anybody agrees with me, read the whole pdf off the page linked to by SCV, wordy though it is, and fill in the response form here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/116/howtorespond/form