Phone-paid or premium rate services (PRS) are any services that are paid for via a consumer’s phone bill or pre-pay mobile credit. These include services such as subscribing to music and video streaming platforms, charitable donations, voting on TV talent shows, entering competitions, directory enquiries, and app store purchases including in-app content such as add-ons for games.
Ofcom assumed responsibility for the day-to-day regulation of phone-paid services in February 2025, taking over from the Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA). This annual market review continues the series of annual market reviews previously published by PSA, and last year’s report which was produced for Ofcom by Analysys Mason.
This year’s report has been produced by Ofcom. We are committed to ensuring that our regulatory decisions are informed by high-quality evidence, and reports such as this help us understand market trends, consumer behaviour, and emerging issues in the PRS sector.
Ofcom is continuing to review how it reports on the PRS sector and we welcome feedback on this publication. Please send any comments to MID@ofcom.org.uk.
Report
Annual Market Review for Phone-paid Services 2025-26 (PDF, 1.65 MB) Phone paid Services Questionnaire (PDF, 283.29 KB)Premium Rate Services Research - Data Tables (XLSX, 1.03 MB)
Related content