Give yourself a Christmas present

How about a free healthcheck on your business expenses from the UK’s leading cost
and purchase management network?

Many companies are now turning to outsourced providers of cost and purchase management. Chris Allison,
Managing Director of Auditel, the leading exponent in this field, explains: “Effective cost and purchase
management is intelligent and ethical and leads to sustainable growth. It should not be confused with short-term
cost cutting exercises that treat problems in isolation and put clients, staff and society at risk.”

Read the full article here…..

New Ofcom rules should soon make it cheaper to call 0870 numbers.
The measures – which will come into effect on 1 August 2009 – will also give consumers a much clearer idea of how much it costs to call these numbers.
0870 numbers are used by many businesses and organisations to provide a wide range of information and advice including many customer service lines.
But consumers are often charged more for calling these numbers than they would if they called a ‘geographic rate’ (01, 02 or 03) number.

Revenue sharing
And because they cost more, businesses and organisations are also able to take a cut of the call charges – a practice known as revenue sharing.
However, the new rules will encourage communication providers to stop charging higher prices for calls to 0870 numbers from fixed lines and mobiles than calls to ‘geographic rate’ numbers.
They will also be encouraged to include 0870 calls in call packages on the same basis as geographic calls.
Communications providers that want to continue charging for 0870 calls at rates above those for geographic numbers will be bound by strict rules about how prices are publicised on websites and in promotional material at point of sale.

Enforcement action
They will also be responsible for making sure their customers know how much they will be charged for calling an 0870 number.
Communications providers will not be allowed to advertise 0870 numbers as ‘national rate’ unless they are charging at geographic rates.
If they do not comply with these rules, they could be subject to enforcement action including possible fines.
Ofcom’s new rules should also effectively end revenue sharing on 0870 numbers.
Ofcom welcomes steps that some fixed line companies have already taken to include calls to 0870 numbers in call packages and reduce their prices.

Read the full Ofcom statement on 0870 numbers…..

Nortel Networks, the Canadian telecoms equipment maker, filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, becoming the sector’s first big victim of the global economic downturn.

Read the full FT Article here…..

BT has been granted permission by telecoms regulator Ofcom to charge its rivals up to 11% more for using its network services.

The news follows Ofcom’s announcement in May that it would be re-examining the prices that BT’s Openreach division is allowed to charge rival companies for wholesale access to local exchanges.

Read the full article here…..

Mobile network operator Orange has been awarded the accolade of best mobile broadband provider in an independent poll by market research firm YouGov.

According to YouGov’s report on the poll, Orange has significantly improved its customer satisfaction ratings, as well as winning over customers from other operators because of its outstanding network performance.

Read the full article here…..