Short answer, yes, mostly. Longer answer, no, because not enough people realise the changes have taken effect. From a ComReg release in November 2019:
From 1 December 2019, calls to 1850, 1890, 0818 and 076 Non-Geographic Numbers (NGNs) will cost no more than calling a landline number and will be included in your bundle of call minutes if your bundle includes landline calls.
You should note that all calls to these NGNs (including 1850) will be deducted from bundles on a per minute basis or, in the absence of a bundle, charged on a per minute basis. Calls to 1800 numbers from both landlines and mobiles remain free. This means that organisations that currently provide NGN services will be easier to access.
If you have any concerns in relation to your current price plan, check with your phone operator.
Based on activity on this website, I can tell you three things with regards to the impact these changes have had:
- With the total number of daily visitors declining daily, even since before the December 1st launch of these changes, this shows that there are a cohort of people who are aware that these changes have taken place, and that this website is no longer necessary.
- Based on the e-mail activity on the since since December, this has been reduced to almost 0 as well.
- However, there are still people e-mailing asking for geographic alternatives for these numbers, and there is still the activity you can see below on the website, showing that there are still people out there unaware of the changes made by ComReg.
12 months visitors to SayNoTo1890
A decline from 625-ish to 375-ish per day, so the message from Comreg is yet to get through to many people!
There are also some telecoms providers who have still not updated their tariff sheets to show the new arrangement!s!
Another part of the changes that has not happened is the number changes.
As you know, all 1850, 1890 and 076 numbers will be cancelled at the end of 2021.
All users of 1850, 1800 and 076 numbers must change their number by that date.
Users can choose a new 0818 number, a new 1800 number, or a new geographic number.
Number changes should be actioned well before the cut-off date as any residual Changed Number Announcement will also stop working on that date.
There have been very few businesses who have announced or actioned a number change. Most seem to be leaving it to the last minute. Perhaps most are not yet aware?
There also appears to be no centralised list of number changes that have alreqdy happened. In this information age, this seems to be a surprising omission.
Another part of the changes that has not happened is the number changes.
As you know, all 1850, 1890 and 076 numbers will be cancelled at the end of 2021.
All users of 1850, 1890 and 076 numbers must change their number by that date.
Users can choose a new 0818 number, a new 1800 number, or a new geographic number.
Number changes should be actioned well before the cut-off date as any residual Changed Number Announcement will also stop working on that date.
There have been very few businesses who have announced or actioned a number change. Most seem to be leaving it to the last minute. Perhaps most are not yet aware?
There also appears to be no centralised list of number changes that have already happened. In this information age, this seems to be a surprising omission.
Post at 22:41 contains a typo (1800 instead of 1890) and can be deleted.
Corrected post has been posted a few minutes later.
Apologies!
Ian, thank you! Great news. I’m still wary of the 0818 numbers, eg Sky , so will double check.