1. More cost effective to operate than 0800 Numbers
Those who keep themselves up-to-date on the telecoms industry will be aware that from July 2015 0800 numbers will be free to call from mobiles. This move has been introduced by the regulator Ofcom due to varying (and confusing) calls costs charged by mobile operators. The flip side is that the costs will be passed onto the business receiving the call. This will involve either your costs being increased, or your monthly 0800 package being reduced.
All this confusion is removed by an 03 Number due to transparent business costs and the fact the caller is never charged at more than a call to a geographic 01 or 02 number, from a landline or mobile. This means that all calls are included within monthly minute bundles, effectively making the call free from most mobiles.
2. Thousands of highly memorable numbers available
As 03 numbers are a relatively new non-geo number, there are still thousands of highly memorable numbers available. As other numbers such as 0845 and 0800 have been around for many years, a lot of the most desirable numbers have been taken, and those that are available carry a significant cost.
As with all prices, due to supply and demand you can currently connect a high quality 03 number for far less than an equal 0800 or 0845 number.
3. Easy to migrate from 0845 and 0870
Ofcom have made it really easy for businesses who advertise an 0845 or 0870 number to migrate over to their equivalent 0345 or 0370 number. The confusion of changing phone number is removed as only one digit will be altered.
If you currently do advertise an 0845 or 0870 number, you have first refusal on your 0345 or 0370 number. Contact your current provider for details.
4. No confusing connection fees from service providers
Mobile and landline providers can now charge a connection fee for all calls to either an 084 or 07 number, and there is virtually no guidance on how much this should be. Naturally this will cause public confusion especially when they realise they could pay up to 44p just to connect their call.
We should have all been contacted by our providers over the last weeks with the detailed charges, but in case you missed your email or text message we’ve listed the charges from the UK’s biggest providers below:
- Giffgaff – 15p
- Talk Talk – 20p
- 3 – 25p
- O2 – 25p
- Tesco Mobile – 25p
- BT – 30p
- Virgin Media – 36p
- EE – 44p
