National Code & Number Change Update

All the Phone Companies TogetherApril 2001

Agenda

1. Geographic changes

2. Final Phase

3. Timings

4. Q&As

Geographic Changes• Parallel running ended• Staggered switch off dates

– Cardiff on 5 August– Coventry on 19 August– Portsmouth and Southampton on 2 September– Northern Ireland on 16 September– London on 14 October

• In addition switch off of 000 international ISDN code on 30 September

Geographic Changes• Misdials caused no threat to network

• Approx 33% of calls dialled the old codes on the day of the switch offs

• Generally dropped to 20% within a couple of days

• 2 weeks after switch off only 5% of calls still made using old codes and numbers

Final Phase - Background

• Old mobile, pager, special rate and premium rate numbers stop working on 28/4/01

• Old mobiles represent 10% of all mobiles; approx 4 million

• Around 30% of callers to old mobiles are dialling the new number already

• Use of new numbers is much higher for 08 (60%) and 09 (85%)

Final Phase - Background

• 60% know about the mobile changes but only 20% think they will have changed by the end of April

• 84% of those with an old mobile don’t know what their new number will be

• 23% are aware that there is no single conversion rule for mobile number changes

Source: BMRB Consumer Research 16-18th February 2001

Final Phase• Direct mail from operators forms major part

of campaign– esp special and premium rate customers

• All information contained in literature, website, and available from helpline

• All opinion formers and third parties updated

• Therefore mass communications to focus on mobile and pager changes only

Mobiles - Objective Communicate to

• owners of old mobiles to get them to – learn their number – tell contacts– update stored numbers

• diallers to old mobiles (NB includes land line callers)– find out new numbers– update stored numbers

Strategy

Focus on diallers rather than owners of

old mobiles as • it is larger group thereby suitable for mass

rather than direct communications• it encompasses the owners of the old

mobiles numbers• owners of old mobiles will be contacted

directly by their phone company

Who Dials Old Mobiles?

All diallers inc land line

All mobile owners

Owners of old mobiles

Messages

Hierarchy:

• WHEN? (knowledge of date)

• WHAT? (awareness of what’s changing)

• HOW? (knowledge of detail of change)

Obstacles

• Apathy – small number affected (10% of all mobiles)– last minuteitis

• Misunderstanding

- ‘just insert 7’– “my number is 07 so changes must have

happened”

• Media wear out

TimingsUsing learning from April 2000• Press and radio ads to run two weeks prior

– focus on date and change– retain style of campaign

• Media stories to be issued four weeks prior– one in four people (15 million) affected by changes

ie dial non 07 mobiles– and one in five (12 million) have old numbers stored