The review will consider options to strengthen the powers of
ICSTIS - the industry-funded regulatory body for all premium rate
services - as well as any other actions necessary.
There has been a public outcry over rogue diallers – software
that installs a default dial-up number onto an unwitting person's
computer to call a premium rate number, resulting in an
unexpectedly expensive call every time the computer connects to the
internet.
Such is the volume of complaints that earlier this month the
Conservative MP for NW Hants, Sir George Young, described ICSTIS as
being in a state of "meltdown".
Over the past few months Ofcom has been in talks with the
Department of Trade and Industry, ICSTIS, the telecoms ombudsman
and the network and service providers, resulting in a July
announcement by ICSTIS that every company wanting to run premium
rate services using internet dialler software must first get the
regulator's prior permission.
But Ofcom is keen to do more to strengthen consumer protection
and consumer confidence in the premium rate industry – which is
worth more than £1 billion a year to the UK economy.
Ofcom will therefore conduct a more wide-ranging assessment of
the regulation of premium rate services, including an assessment of
whether ICSTIS has the tools it needs to regulate an industry with
such a large number of participants. The review will take place in
August and September this year.
Any necessary changes to the ICSTIS Code of Practice arising
from the review would be the subject of public consultation in the
autumn, as would any other potential changes to the wider
regulatory framework.
