Ref: 85/01
Date: 12 December 2001

From today consumers have even greater choice over which company carries their telephone calls without the need to change their current telephone line or number.

Originally launched last year to cover national and international calls, carrier pre-selection services have now been extended to include local calls, along with calls to mobile phones, local rate and freephone numbers, premium rate and paging numbers.

Carrier pre-selection allows consumers to have their calls automatically carried by the phone company of their choice using their BT line, without the need to dial extra digits or the use of an autodialler box.

David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications, said today:

"Carrier pre-selection enables consumers to save money by taking advantage of the best deals on offer from several different telephone companies while still keeping their BT line.

"Because calls are automatically routed to different networks at the telephone exchange, there is no need for consumers to dial extra digits or have special equipment installed in their home.

"From today, consumers can now choose to have their calls to mobile phones, local, special rate and premium rate numbers carried by an alternative operator, as well as their national and international calls.

"Oftel expects that the availability of this new ‘all calls’ option will boost the carrier pre-selection market and enhance competition. It will bring benefits to consumers in terms of further choice and lower call charges. A guide to carrier pre-selection and details of companies providing these services are on the consumer section of Oftel’s website.

"The impact of greater competition through services such as carrier pre-selection will be taken into account in Oftel’s review of price controls on BT’s residential calls."

Notes to editors:

1. The ‘all calls’ option has been added as an option for carrier pre-selection. The other CPS options – national calls, international calls, national and international calls combined – will remain available as well. However, if a customer has the ‘all calls’ option, this cannot be combined with the national or international options. The ‘all calls’ option must be taken from one alternative phone company only. ‘All calls’ does not include some special types of calls such as 999 calls, operator assistance calls and calls to directory enquiries.

2. A guide to carrier pre-selection is on the consumer section of Oftel’s website at www.oftel.gov.uk/ind_groups/op_policy/cpscgm/docs/conguide.htm.

3. Oftel has invited phone companies offering CPS to send their contact information to Oftel for inclusion on Oftel’s website. You can find a list of phone companies offering CPS that wanted to be included on Oftel’s website at www.oftel.gov.uk/ind_groups/op_policy/cpscgm/cpslistoprts.htm.

4. After choosing a CPS provider, customers will need to sign a contract with the CPS phone company and send BT a confirmation slip to inform BT that they have chosen to use this company. The industry has designed the confirmation process to protect customers from unwanted changes to their phone provision. There will be a 14-day cooling-off period from the date BT receives confirmation, in case customers change their minds.

5. Customers will continue to get a bill from BT for line rental and any other services and calls not covered by CPS, plus a separate bill from the other phone companies for calls made using CPS. Customers will still be able to override automatic call routing and make calls through BT (or an indirect access operator) by dialling a short code.

6. If a customer no longer wants to use CPS, the customer may change back to BT or to another CPS operator – agreements with the CPS phone company should be checked for details of when this can be done.