One stealth cost that often gets overlooked is the extortinate cost of calling 084 087 & 090 numbers from a mobile phone. There are 65 million mobile phone users in the UK most of whom are unclear of how much it costs to call these type of numbers from their mobile.

 

HOW DOES IT WORK?

  If you were to make a 10 minute call to an 084 number from your mobile phone the ‘Network Access Charge’ levied by your mobile network operator will on average cost between £4 & £6.50

If you then add the NAC (network access charge) pence per minute rate onto the 084 number ‘Service charge (usually around 4-7ppm) the total pence per minute charge to call the 084 number will be 72p. Therefore a 10 minute call will costing a staggering £7.20!

 

SO WHY DO THESE NUMBERS COST SO MUCH TO CALL?

The cost of calling 0843, 0844 and 0845 numbers is made up of two parts: a service charge set by the organisation you are calling and an network access charge going to your phone company, and .

The service charge for calls to 084 numbers is between 0p and 7p per minute. The service charge should be clearly displayed wherever the phone number is advertised or promoted.

The ‘network access charge’ is charged in addition to the service charge and will vary depending on your phone company (both fixed & mobile netowork operators charge NAC charges), and the rates can range from 8p to 67p per minute. The mobile networks tend to levy the higher ppm rates. To find out how much your phone company is charging you to call 08 numbers check out the OFCOM website here

 

HAVE THESE CHARGES BEEN ADDRESSED BY OFCOM?

So far very little has been done to regulate the mobile networks to capp the NAC ppm rate. That may change at some point however whilst the operators can get away with this they will continue to do so. We hope this article will help you avoid being stung by the high cost of calling these types of numbers from mobile phones. If you do get stung it’s worth noting that some of our clients had the full amount of the network access charge refunded after they have contacted the mobile network to compain about the excessive NAC charge! Interesting how they refund it so promptly! Maybe it’s something to do with the fact these charges are extortinate!

 
There are some other work arounds, the easiest of which is to look up the number on www.saynoto0870.com to see if there is a standard geographic 01,02 number that can be called instead of the 084/087 number. If not maybe just don’t call the 08* number at all. If you have to call the number maybe ask the person who answers the call do they have a regular number (01,02,03 or 0800) you can call instead of the 084*. You could also check the NAC rates charged by your VOIP line or landline provider – these should be available on their websitwe. Alteratively contact me david@phoenixcommunications.co.uk and we can advise on cheaper ways of calling these numbers.