Mobile calls to service numbers and information numbers are becoming cheaper. This decision was made by the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), the former OPTA. The new rates will take effect from July 1, 2013. Both consumers and businesses or institutions using service numbers will benefit from the new regulations.

The Old Situation

The ACM’s decision concerns the rates charged by mobile phone providers. In the old situation, calls to service numbers and other non-geographic numbers were subject to additional charges by mobile providers and were generally excluded from call bundles, making them significantly more expensive for both the caller and the number holder.

Mobile providers charged an additional fee of an average of 30 cents per minute for calls to service numbers, on top of the standard rate for these service numbers. This meant that mobile callers to 0900 and 088 numbers faced extra costs.

The new situation changes this.

What Changes

According to the ACM’s decision, the cost of mobile calls to a service number (0800 or 0900) or business number (088) from July 1 may not exceed the cost of a call to a fixed number outside the caller’s region, possibly increased by the service number’s charges.

Reason for This Decision

It is clear that various parties welcome this ACM decision. The rules have changed partly because more and more information numbers are being used and partly because people are increasingly making mobile calls.

Belfabriek welcomes this decision as it benefits both number holders and callers.