Look at that chap; why’s he surprised? Because he’s called a 1800 number, and from today, he doesn’t have to pay for it on his mobile. From 1 July, Vodafone, Optus and Telstra are all now providing their customers with free of charge calls to 1800 numbers.
Vodafone joined Optus and Telstra in doing so, notwithstanding its own concerns about the cost it would have to wear because of the changes. It noted that the offering of free 1800 calls doesn’t take into account interconnect charges imposed by various telecommunication providers on each other when traversing each others systems.
ACMA also spoke about changes today, noting that the ongoing reform of charges for 13/1300/1800 numbers by the industry without the need for regulatory intervention is a significant achievement, and acknowledges the industry’s leadership without the need for the heavy hand of the regulator.
There are some limited providers that aren’t offering free calls to 1800 numbers yet, and if you’re with one of those and 1800 numbers are important to you, you may consider moving to another provider that offers the service.
