Fone Forum

Hi guys

I'm very angry for EE blocking some 03 access numbers that can be found on phone cards we buy to  call aboard costing us from £1 to £20 then we find that the 03 access number don't work at all.

I wonder what Ofcom have to say about this.

I have sent emails to EE with no answer I did call them they did  say that have blocked some 03 numbers which is not fair guys what do I do now.

I doubt Ofcom will have anything to say. As far as I know a communications provider has no obligation to connect calls to every phone number unfortunately. Plus even if that wasn't the case, Ofcom are as useful as a chocolate fireguard.

The easiest thing to do is vote with your wallet, i.e move to a network which doesn't block 03 calling card access.

I agree with davegr. Theres no point going to ofcom, ombudsman because its going to be waste of your time and energy. Either find an alternative calling service or go to another mobile network. I have found that EE are quite aggressive in closing down entire number ranges.....the best thing to do is report this issue with the calling card company or range holder so they can take it up directly with EE.

Apparently, i have heard (im not sure if this is accurate though) that a telco company cannot just block a range because it goes against the rules of the interconnect agreement.

If this was me and still in contract I'd try to get out from it early without paying early termination fee.

dlR

All mobile phone providers from time to time have their own way of blocking certain numbers, but EE is surely the worst.

If you're not completely satisfied with the services provided by EE, the best alternative is to move your number to another network that can offer you exactly what you want.

It's against Ofcom's rules.  We had a dispute with EE over their blocking our numbers go as far as a meeting at Ofcom, and our numbers are no longer blocked.

Did they block an entire range? Is there perhaps a regulatory difference between blocking a single number, or a few numbers and blocking an entire range? Of course, the CC provider could just allocate an entire range to the calling card service if that's the case!

They blocked a couple of ranges of maybe a hundred numbers each.  The relevant condition is GC20 - page 76 of this: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/telecoms/ga/GENERAL_CONDITIONS_22Sept2014.pdf

To answer your specific question, there is no obvious regulatory difference between blocking a single number or a whole range.

Not that it makes much difference here, but there's a later version of the General Conditions on Ofcom's we site.

Thanks, last thing I wanted to do was trawl through another long winded Ofcom document.

I notice that it says (emphasis mine):

"The Communications Provider shall ensure, where technically and economically feasible, that End-Users in any part of the European Community are able to:
(a) access and use those Non-geographic Numbers which the Communications Provider Adopts;
(b) access all Telephone Numbers provided in the European Community, regardless of the technological devices used by the operator, including those in the National Telephone Numbering Plan, those from the European Telephone Numbering Space (ETNS) and Universal International Freephone Numbers (UIFN)."

They might argue that providing access to such numbers/services is not economically feasible? (Though I would then argue, they should have sensible tariffs).

It's also interesting to note that all providers should be allowing access to all numbers in the European Community. This is absolutely and definitely not the case in reality for every provider I can think of. They all bar some non geo ranges in other EC countries, they also bar some fixed and mobile networks where the termination rate differs from that of the main networks.

That was the argument that EE tried to use.  Their turnover is in the several billions.  Claiming that costs in the thousands made it economically unfeasible to deliver the calls was unlikely to be sustainable.

The Telcos will rather pocket billions in profit than let a few hundred thousands go to good causes in telecoms development to individuals like our forum members.