Orange stamps on low cost call alternative

ORANGE'S DECISION to change the way it handles numbers in the 07744 and 07755 ranges has left at least one INQ reader seriously out of pocket. Yet Ofcom has no problems with 'transparency' in this situation.

The whole confusion arises over the way Orange treats its 'inclusive' minutes. If you're making calls to another mobile phone network it would be quite natural to assume that they form part of your inclusive minutes.

However, the network in question is Dolphin which was acquired a while ago by a Qualcomm sponsored company, Inqam. Dolphin has, of course, subsequently gone under.

But now Inquam is renting its numbers out - in the 07744 and 07755 ranges - to low cost telephony providers. Like Yourcallworld.com, for example.

The system is simple. Mobile subscribers dial the 077 number used by a low cost provider. Once connected to that number, subscribers then dial the number for an international call that they wish to place.

The chief attraction of such a service is that ordinary UK mobile subscribers can take advantage of using up bundled minutes which would normally go to waste in order to make calls abroad

Typically this kind of service is promoted to UK residents with relatives abroad in countries like India, for example. For whom calling indirectly represents a considerable cost saving.

But there's a catch. Orange has quite rightly noticed that it's paying fees to connect calls into the former Dolphin network yet there's no reciprocal arrangement. That is, there's no calls coming out of Dolphin back into Orange.

So quite naturally, Orange has moved to shut off this loophole. It issued a piece of advice on its own web site warning that from 1st August, Orange subscribers will have to pay 20 pence per minute to connect via an 077445 or 07755 number.

Which is all well and good except that our informant found himself paying circa 90 pence per minute for an international call instead of the anticipated 20 pence.

He argues that posting a simple note on the Orange web site isn't sufficient. Orange should have at least sent him a text or called him to notify the change in the way it treats 07755 numbers.

The INQ spoke to industry watchdog, Of com, which informed us that Orange was well within its rights to make the change. Especially since 'bundled' minutes form part of an offer which Orange can obviously change any time it likes.

The trouble is that Ofcom is suffering from poor recall. Back in April 2001, Oftel - Ofcom's predecessor, forced the whole of the UK to renumber mobile phones so that they all started with 07.

The purpose? So that we'd all realise we were calling a mobile phone number. To top it all Ofcom says it has no problems with 'transparency' when it comes to people calling 07755 numbers.

The whole situation couldn't be more reminiscent of a typical British farce. µ