ISP Customer Support Departments Fear Results of Number Translation Services Review
Thursday 21st April 2005
Pay-As-You-Go market under threat
The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA UK) - the UK’s leading Internet trade association - is highlighting the concerns of its members’ customer support departments over proposed alterations to the Number Translation Services (NTS) market following a review by the Office of Communications (Ofcom).
Ofcom is due to report its findings from two consultations - ‘Number Translation Services: call termination market review’ and ‘Number Translation Services: Options for the future’ - in the coming months.
ISPA believes that alterations to the current NTS call termination process would affect the relationship between ISPs’ customer support departments and their customers.
Often consumers will use Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) services to access the web and do not use the associated email facilities. If number ranges were changed, many ISPs will have no way of contacting users to tell them about the change. Many users would be stranded without Internet access until a new account can be set-up, and ISPs could lose their customers.
ISPA believes this would be an unacceptable disruption. Many users depend on PAYG accounts to deliver invaluable access to the Internet; particularly those in rural areas where broadband is still unavailable.
Jessica Hendrie-Liaño, Chair of the ISPA Council said, “Altering the current number range would effectively take away the business of ISPs offering dial-up Internet access, and leave many consumers without Internet access until a new account can be set-up.”
Mrs Hendrie-Liaño continued, “Changes must be communicated in the right way. Ofcom must appreciate the obstacles and suggest an appropriate solution.”
Difficulties of informing users of changes to data calls include:
- Users are accessing the web through a variety of operating systems, so there will be no ‘one-size fits all’ solution.
- Ofcom proposes to use a ‘splash box’ solution which would involve the use of pop ups to inform consumers of the changes. Computers are increasingly protected through filters against spam and pop ups rendering the ‘splash box’ solution ineffective.
- Some customer support departments have no means of communicating with users, as users will simply create a connection to the Internet by inserting a phone number.
Mrs Hendrie-Liaño concluded, “Ofcom must be aware that any action taken in the NTS market could have a lasting impact on the ISP community. Customers would be left without a service provider and customer support departments of ISPs which offer dial-up services will be inundated with calls from customers who can’t get online.”
“If changes are made to existing number ranges, Ofcom must co-ordinate with the Internet industry to promote consumer awareness of any alterations to the current arrangements.”
-ends-
Notes to editors
NTS calls are so-called special service numbers (beginning 08, 09 and 0500) which have no specific geographic location. NTS calls relate to a particular service, with the call directed to the required destination.
The views expressed in this release are those of the Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA UK) and do not necessarily reflect the corporate policies of the individual companies that are members of the Association or other organisations that may be mentioned in the release.
For further information, please contact the ISPA Press Office.
Email: pressoffice@ispa.org.uk Tel: 020 7340 4535
About the Internet Services Providers’ Association
The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA) was established in 1995 as a trade association to represent providers of Internet services in the UK. ISPA promotes competition, self-regulation and the development of the Internet industry. For a list of members or other information about ISPA, please consult the website: www.ispa.org.uk