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Premium-rate telephone numbers are telephone numbers for telephone calls during which certain services are provided, and for which prices higher than normal are charged. Unlike a normal call, part of the call charge is paid to the service provider, thus enabling businesses to be funded via the calls. While the billing is different, calls are usually routed the same way they are for a toll-free telephone number, being anywhere despite the area code used. A telephone number is a sequence of decimal digits that uniquely indicates the network termination point. ...
A telephone call is a connection over a telephone network between the calling party and the called party. ...
Billing may mean: The process of sending accounts to customers for goods or services is called billing. ...
This article describes routing in computer networks, a method of finding paths from origins to destinations, along which information can be passed. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
A telephone numbering plan is a system that allows subscribers to make and receive telephone calls across long distances. ...
The issuing of these numbers to service providers is typically regulated by a national body, such as ICSTIS (the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services) in the United Kingdom, to ensure certain community standards are adhered to both in terms of content and price. Charges are presented as part of the normal telephone bill. ICSTIS, the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services, is the regulatory body for all premium rate telephone services in the United Kingdom. ...
Adult chat lines (phone sex) and tech support are a very common use of premium-rate numbers. Other services include directory inquiries, weather forecasts, competitions and voting (especially relating to television shows). Diplomatic services, such as the US embassy in London, have also been seen to charge premium rates for calls from the general public. In this case, the primary motive behind assigning a premium rate number may be to reduce the call volume from casual callers, a tactic also employed by tech support lines to also reduce call length. Phone sex refers to sexually explicit conversation between two or more persons via telephone, especially when at least one of the participants masturbates or engages in sexual fantasy. ...
Technical support is a service used by ICT companies used to help solve problems with technical equipment, usually computer hardware and software. ...
Directory assistance (in the UK, directory enquiries) in telecommunications is a telephone call one can make to find out a specific phone number of a residence or business. ...
BBCs Alex Deakin presenting a weather report. ...
Competition is the act of striving against another force for the purpose of achieving dominance or attaining a reward or goal, or out of a biological imperative such as survival. ...
Voting is a method of decision making where in a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates. ...
A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ...
Seal on the building of German Embassies. ...
A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one nation state present in another nation state to represent the sending state in the receiving State. ...
This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...
These telephone numbers are usually allocated from a national telephone numbering plan in such a way that they are easily distinguished from other numbers. Telephone companies typically offer blocking services to allow telephone customers to prevent access to these number ranges from their telephones. In some states, telephone companies are required by state law to offer such blocking. A telephone numbering plan is a plan for allocating telephone number ranges to countries, regions, areas and exchanges and to non-fixed telephone networks such as mobile phone networks. ...
A telephone company (or telco) provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications. ...
Most media who sponsor 900 number programs do so by working through a 900 number service bureau. A 900 number service bureau works through the carriers to gain approval for the 900 number program, then operates the equipment that processes the consumer's 900 number calls. MCI is currently the only 900 number provider in the United States that provides both transport and billing for 900 numbers. MCI maintains relationships with only three service bureaus in the country who have direct billing relationships -- MVA, ICN, and Advanced Telecom Services.
Computer criminals have used premium-rate numbers to defraud unsuspecting Internet users. One scheme involved inducing users to download a program known as a dialer that surreptitiously dialed a premium-rate number, accumulating charges on the user's phone bill without their knowledge. A dialer (or dialler) is a computer program which creates a connection to the Internet or another computer network over the analog telephone or ISDN network. ...
A now-uncommon premium-rate scam involves television programming that induces young children to dial the number, banking on the notion that they will be unaware of the charges that will be incurred. One variant, targeted at children too young to dial a number, enticed children to hold the phone up to the television set while the DTMF tones of the number were played.[1] Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF), also known as Touch Tone® is used for telephone signaling over the line in the voice frequency band to the call switching center. ...
North America
A 1-900 telephone number, in the North American Numbering Plan, usually has the form 1-900-###-####, as is often called a 900 number or a 1-900 number ("one-nine-hundred"). Area Code 900 was first used in March 1977, for incoming calls to a nationwide talk radio broadcast featuring the newly elected President Jimmy Carter, hosted by anchorman Walter Cronkite. The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan of 24 countries and territories: the United States and its territories, Canada, Bermuda, and 16 Caribbean nations. ...
Talk radio is a radio format which features discussion of topical issues. ...
The presidential seal was first used by President Hayes in 1880 and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii. ...
James Earl Jimmy Carter, Jr. ...
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. ...
Earlier, 976 numbers used 976 as a local prefix, though it was not assigned to a specific telephone exchange like other prefixes. These numbers were dialed as any other local number, such as 976-1234. A Verizon Central Office in Lakeland, Florida at night. ...
A call to either one of these numbers can result in a high per-minute or per-call charge. For example, a "psychic hotline" type of 1-900 number may charge $2.99 for the first minute and 99 cents for each additional minute. The term psychic comes from the Greek psychikos, meaning of the soul, mental, which is in turn derived from the Greek word psyche (soul/mind). ...
In telecommunication, a hotline (also called an automatic signaling service or off-hook service) is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook. ...
Initially, consumers had no choice regarding the accessibility to 900/976 numbers on their phones. However, in 1987, Ken Scalir, a minor, racked up a bill of $17,000. The California Public Utilities Commission subsequently required phone companies to give customers an option to prevent the dialing of 900/976 numbers. California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is a commision of the State of California tasked with regulating utilities which operate as monopolies. ...
Some uses of 1-900 numbers:
Sometimes, these have 800 number standards, but charge a toll. Namcos Pac-Man was a hit, and became a cultural phenomenon. ...
In astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the planets, other celestial bodies, and sensitive angles at the time of an event, such as the moment of a persons birth. ...
The term date can refer to: A day according to a calendar; see calendar date. ...
Politics In politics, the line or the party line is an English language idiom for a political party or social movements canon agenda, as well as specific ideological elements specific to the organizations partisanship. ...
Voting is a method of decision making where in a group such as a meeting or an electorate attempts to gauge its opinion—usually as a final step following discussions or debates. ...
A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ...
A contest is an event involving a competition at least two opposing individuals or teams, to be awarded a prize to the champion. ...
The term gambling has had many different meanings depending on the cultural and historical context in which it is used. ...
Phone sex refers to sexually explicit conversation between two or more persons via telephone, especially when at least one of the participants masturbates or engages in sexual fantasy. ...
Chris and Mitch Gansen in their room. ...
A toll-free telephone number (or Freephone number in the UK) is a special telephone number, in which the calling party is not charged for the call by the telephone operator. ...
If you wish to operate a 900 number in the United States, it is important that you first review the 900 number rules as established by MCI. Here is a link to the MCI 900 Number Rules.
Consumers in the US have specific rights regarding 900 number calls, as laid down by the Federal Trade Commission. [1] FTC headquarters, Washington, D.C. The Federal Trade Commission (or FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act. ...
South America
Telephone numbers of the form 0600-xxx-xxxx and 0609-xxx-xxxx are premium rate numbers. The 0609 series is for entertainment (fixed rate), while 0600 is for services (the rate depends on the particular number).
Brazil In Brazil, usually numbers of the form 0900-xxx-xxx(x), 0300-xxx-xxx(x) and 0500-xxx-xxx(x) are premium rate numbers. The first one is usually used for entertainment (such as adult sex numbers), charged for time, and the other two for services and some entertainment such as TV votation.
Europe Late night TV game shows in the UK such as the Mint, were recently investigated for phone call irregularities in premium rate dialled numbers
Finland Numbers starting with 0700 and 0600 are premium rate numbers. The 0700 series is for entertainment, while 0600 is for services. Several other premium codes exist, sometimes confusing consumers, who may not know if they are calling a premium number or not.
France Numbers starting with 08xx are special rate numbers. They range from toll free numbers (080x) to premium numbers (089x) (called Audiotel by France Telecom). There are also various moderately priced numbers (from about 0.03 to 0.15 €/minute) in the 081x and 082x ranges. Most of these numbers are not reachable from outside France.
There also exists special 4 digits numbers in the form of 32xx, for which billing rules can be the ones from any 08xx number, to the provider choice.
The split rule between different premium rate number is not clearly defined (premium rate information number and premium rate entertainment number).
The regulator (ARCEP, previously ART) has also issued new range for Telephony over xDSL in the 087x range which might confuse consumers, as calls to these numbers are billed as local calls nationwide. They will be superseded by the 09xx range in the future.
Germany Dedicated premium-rate lines nowadays begin with the prefix 0900, the infamous 0190 prefix having been terminated on December 31, 2005. However, some premium services also use lines with the prefix 0137, which is supposedly reserved for planned simultaneous call-in events, such as televoting. Televoting or televote is the telephone voting in the Eurovision Song Contest. ...
Ireland Premium rate numbers begin with the prefix 15. These numbers provide a range of services from weather forecasting to adult dating. 1559 numbers are reserved solely for sex lines, and require a PIN, issued by your network operator, to access. A personal identification number (PIN) is a secret numeric password shared between a user and a system that can be used to authenticate the user to the system. ...
All 15x numbers have officially quoted rates, set by the prefix, although telecom providers can charge an additional fee for carrying the call. 151x numbers are charged on a per-call basis, all others on a per-minute basis. In general the prices increase as the prefix number increases, within the call type range.
Regtel is a body which monitors the premium rate services industry in Ireland. Although an independent body, it can impose sanctions, ban advertisements and ban services offered by providers. It is funded by a levy on providers.
Netherlands Premium numbers in The Netherlands start with 0900 (general purpose), 0906 (erotic entertainment) and 0909 (games and lotteries) followed by four or seven digits. When one dials such a nulnegenhonderd nummer it is enforced by law that the caller gets informed about the per minute rate. Opta is the governing body that regulates premium rate services in the Netherlands.
Norway Any telephone number starting with 82 (mostly 820/829) is charged at premium rates (82x xx xxx).
Romania Premium numbers are in the 090xxxxxx-098xxxxxx range. Currently, only the 0900 block is used. [2]. Prior to 2002, all numbers starting with 89 were premium rate numbers. Some of those number remain as local premium numbers, and the 02xx89xxxxx block remains reserved.
Russia 809 is probably the only premium prefix. Note that usually in Russia one needs to dial 8 before the area code, so premium numbers are usually written as 8-809-something, where "something" is seven digits. Trunk code (ТС) is a digit or a combination of digits, used prior to the subscriber number for long distance dialling, not including the national prefix, which identifies uniquely a numbering area in a given country. ...
Spain In Spain, the charged-at-premium numbers begins with 80 or 90 (except the 800, 900 and 909, which are free, the 901 which is shared cost, the 902 which is like a provincial call and the 908 which is like a metropolitan call). The most popular prefixes are 803 (porn hot-lines) and 806 (services), also are used 807 and 905. Previously all the numbers starting with 90x (except 900, 901 and 902) were charged at premium rates but the 906 had been moved to 803, 806 and 807 and the 908 and 909 prefixes were created for Internet dialup services. All those numbers have 9 digits.
Also there are other range for information services (weather, white pages, etc...), there are all the numbers starting whith 118, they can have 5 or 6 digits with a variable cost per number. 11823 is free from Telefónica's telephone cabins. Previously 11823 was 1003.
Any telephone number starting 09xx, is charged at premium rates, in a similar fashion to a 900 number in North America. Previously the main virtual prefixes for premium rate phone calls were 0898 and 0891 along with some others (such as 0331, 0660, 0897). In the 1980s, when premium rate was introduced, the main prefixes were 0055, 0066 and 0077. Premium rate services in the UK can range from £0.10/min up to £1.50/min. Drop charge rates are also available which can cost the caller £0.10/call up to £1.50/call.
ICSTIS is the governing body that regulates premium rate services in the UK. They are responsible for investigating complaints, and to ensure that information and service providers comply with a Code of Conduct. Although an independent body, ICSTIS can impose sanctions upon providers found to be in breach of the Code of Practice, including a levy and a ban on the service. ICSTIS, the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services, is the regulatory body for all premium rate telephone services in the United Kingdom. ...
Oceania
In Australia, the prefix is 190x. Of these 1900 was the initial prefix and is the most common; since then 1901 and 1902 have also been allocated. 1901 is specifically reserved for services of a sexual nature. Previously (before the introduction of eight digit numbering), the prefix 0055 was used for this purpose, with 0056 being reserved for sexual purposes. As a result, 190x numbers are often referred to colloquially as 0055 numbers (pronounced double-oh, double-five).
In New Zealand, the prefix starts with 0900. The service is used by phone sex companies and charitable organizations. Phone sex refers to sexually explicit conversation between two or more persons via telephone, especially when at least one of the participants masturbates or engages in sexual fantasy. ...
A charitable organization (also known as a charity) is a trust, company or unincorporated association established for charitable purposes only. ...
Using international-rate calls as premium-rate numbers As an alternative to official premium-rate numbers, service operators have been known to use kickbacks from high-rate international call tariffs to charge for their services. In these cases, the calls may never leave the country of origin, even though the number has a country calling code (or an NANP area code) specifying a country with high incoming call rates. This article is about political corruption. ...
A tariff is a tax placed on imported and/or exported goods, sometimes called a customs duty. ...
This is a list of country calling codes, also known as international direct dialing (IDD) codes, which are needed to access international telephone services. ...
A telephone numbering plan is a system that allows subscribers to make and receive telephone calls across long distances. ...
Since these kinds of numbers have confused international jurisdiction, they are also sometimes used for fraud. In law, jurisdiction (from the Latin ius, iuris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak) is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area...
Notes - ^ Stern, M. and Stern, J. Jane & Michael Stern's Encyclopedia of Pop Culture: An A to Z Guide to Who's Who and What's What, from Aerobics and Bubble Gum to Valley of the Dolls Harpercollins, 1992.
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