Telecoms regulator Ofcom has backtracked on its commitment to order that all personal numbers using the prefix 070 be moved to the 06 number range.
The move had been prompted by a rash of scams trading on the fact that 070 numbers were similar to mobile numbers but could cost up to £2 to call from a mobile. Ofcom claims, though, that the number of scams has dropped and that the estimated £40 million cost of the change would outweigh any benefits.
"Since our review of telephone numbering in 2006, the number of complaints has significantly reduced and we have found that the use of 070 appears to be declining," said Ofcom's report on the issue. "Closing the 070 number range as previously intended is not a proportionate response."
"Given our legal duty to provide end users with a migration path to another number allocation where a number range is closed, our analysis shows that the costs associated with migration significantly outweigh any benefits gained from closing the range," it said.
The most common 070 scam has been one in which a mobile phone user receives an aborted call which rings only long enough to leave the number stored as a missed call on the receiving phone.
Recipients then call that number back and only find out later that they have been charged £2 for the call. Some users reported to Ofcom that they called back a number of times, raising the cost. One claimed to have lost £35 in such scams.
Ofcom said, though, that scam numbers were now low, and that some people who complained about scams were not victims of scams, just of high call costs on legitimate services. 070 numbers are designed as 'personal' numbers which can be diverted to any number at which the subscriber is based.
Ofcom and premium rate phone regulator PhonepayPlus are still receiving complaints about 070 numbers and scams, but the number of complaints has fallen since a peak in late 2005, Ofcom said.
Ofcom has published its revised plans for consultation. It said that rather than forcing 070 users to the 06 number range it would support PhonepayPlus's actions against those abusing 070 numbers, demand that operators make their pricing clearer and demand that operators examine 070 subscribers more closely.
Ofcom this year conducted research which found that seven per cent of consumers claimed to have been a victim of 070 scams, though it said that some of these complaints were likely to be to do with high call costs on legitimate services and not scams at all.
Ofcom said that with low complaint numbers and high costs associated with moving all users to another number range, it was best not to take action.
"This is a small market especially in comparison to other number ranges (the volume of traffic to 070 numbers is around 1% of that for the 0870/71 range) and one that is declining both in terms of call traffic and revenue. Thus any significant change is likely to create costs for communications providers that are large relative to the size of the 070 market," it said.
The activities associated with moving number ranges that will cost providers money, said Ofcom, include changes to contracts, notifying end users, changes to technical and billing systems, renegotiation costs and loss of business. Ofcom estimated those costs at £10m.
Ofcom said that the stationery changes that users would have to make could cost them £22m.
Previously, Ofcom had ordered providers to play free call cost warnings on any 070 numbers which it cost more than 20p to call. It is now also consulting on withdrawing that requirement.
Some alarm systems depend on 070 numbers and automatically dial those numbers when the alarm is triggered. The messages prevented those automatic calls being received, Ofcom said.
Because this poses a threat to human life and property, Ofcom has said that the requirement to play these messages on 070 numbers should be dropped.