Telecommunications giant BT has announced it will be scrapping call charges on 0870 and 0845 numbers for its customers.

Changes to current call charges will cost BT anything up to 24 million pounds, but will give BT’s existing 14 million customers something to cheer about in the New Year.

BT customers have often complained about BT’s exclusion of 0870 and 0845 numbers from their option packages.

BT said the changes would cost it “tens of millions” of pounds, but had decided, “to give customers what they want”.

John Petter, Managing Director of BT’s consumer business department, said: “We know that the public is frustrated by having to pay higher charges for these numbers, even though BT’s rates are cheaper than their rivals, so we worked out a way to go further and include all calls to 0870 and 0845 numbers in our call packages”.

Steve Cordingley, Director of 08 Direct, a UK based telecommunications company believes “the reduction in cost from BT landlines should go a long way to improving the image of these popular number ranges.”

These changes may be a very shrewd move by BT. Ofcom’s proposed restructuring of the way 0870 numbers work is reportedly happening in early 2009. By making this move early, BT may take the limelight for forcing a change on the 0870 number range amongst the big service providers.

Both Virgin Media and SKY have made no comment yet on whether they will be following suit.

Who are we?

08 Direct is a privately owned telecommunications company. We specialise in supplying businesses with non-geographical numbers e.g. 0800, 0844, 0845, 0870, 0871 and 0800 numbers.

Why are we writing a blog?

For a number of reasons really. First and foremost, we will be condensing down into a handful of weekly posts, important telecoms news relevant to UK businesses.

Secondly we will be highlighting how these issues could impact your business. Our telecoms experts will then give you practical advice on the best course of action for you to take.

What will we be blogging about?

• Keeping you up-to-date on any important legislative changes from Ofcom to the way 08 numbers work
• Giving you useful information on how to get the most out of 08 numbers and the services which are currently available to users
• Case studies of how businesses both large and small have used 08 numbers to improve the day-to-day running of their businesses

Can I leave feedback?

Of course! We want you to get involved! Feel free to leave comments on our posts and our experts will try their utmost to answer them!