4 Prevention
An effective TPS
30. The Telephone Preference Service aims to stop
live unsolicited direct marketing calls being made in the first
place. The TPS told us that their own research in 2008 showed
that registration with their service reduced the number of nuisance
calls by 54%. John Mitchison, Head of Preference Services of
the Direct Marketing Association, told us that this research "said
that somebody who was registered with TPS got 54% less calls than
somebody who was not."[34]
More recent research (this year) by Which? reported a reduction
in the number of illegal sales and marketing calls received by
people whose telephone numbers were registered on the TPS but
this was not quantified.[35]
The planned review by Ofcom and the ICO of the effectiveness
of the TPS is long overdue and should provide much-needed data
to inform further regulatory action.
31. Approximately 250 TPS licensees pay the TPS an
annual fee to have access to registered numbers. It is by no means
necessary to become a TPS licensee—desirable though that
might be—to comply with the PECR legislation. John Mitchison
explained: "Whether you were a licensee yourself or whether
you had your data processed through a third party, that would
be up to you. A lot of smaller organisations use the services
of a data processor to get their data cleaned, in effect, before
they make any calls."[36]
Having data "cleaned" means having the telephone numbers
checked against the TPS register.[37]
Other organisations use telemarketing technology which will not
allow numbers to be called that are on the TPS register. George
Kidd, Chief Commissioner, Direct Marketing Commission, told us:
But there are more ways of solving a problem
than a large stick, and access to the TPS, the right to become
a licensee, the ability to market your competence as a licensee
and as a partner—forgive the use of the word—is a
lot more powerful as a deterrent, perhaps, than the risk that
you may or may not be investigated or may or may not cop a fine.
Thinking about the leverage that we can bring to people's behaviour,
it is not just about fines and sticks. It is about access and
reputation.[38]
32. It costs £2,200 a year to be a TPS licensee
with access to the daily updated list of telephone numbers to
which unsolicited live marketing calls should not be made.[39]
Such a fee could, we suggest, deter many smaller companies from
becoming licensees and establishing a desirably closer relationship
with the Direct Marketing Association's regulatory structures
and constraints. More organisations could be encouraged to
become TPS licensees by reducing the annual fee for smaller companies
- including sole traders. This might achieve a closer regulatory
relationship with the Direct Marketing Association to the benefit
of companies and consumers alike.
Mobile devices and telephone handsets
33. Unsolicited text messages are particularly difficult
to deal with given the ease with which SIM cards can be bought
without the need to provide any identification. Hamish MacLeod,
Chair, Mobile Broadband Group, told us that, with prepay phones,
"the spammer does not really make much attempt to make sure
they are complying with any law. They just go out and buy some
cards, which is quite cheap nowadays, and send off a spam. As
soon as the 7726 report comes in[40]
... the SIM card can be disconnected."[41]
Which? told us they would like the mobile phone industry to
provide spam filtering technology analogous to that used to filter
out unwanted emails.[42]
34. In its written evidence, the Mobile Broadband
Group refers to an increasing trend in the number of nuisance
calls coming into mobiles, most of which originate in the UK and
which present the calling number, i.e. the calling line identification
or CLI. However, this is sometimes insufficient to trace the
call because callers can provide a "presentation number"
CLI (a number different from the actual calling number, which
is a facility that is widely used also for legitimate purposes
such as allowing calls to be returned to a specific person).
The usual subject matter for nuisance calls made to mobiles is
currently payment protection insurance or debt management. Offers
of pay-day loans are on the increase. Richard Lloyd of Which?
suggested to us that there is more scope for communications service
providers and handset manufacturers to engage with this growing
problem of nuisance calls:
There are already handsets out there to screen
calls. We have been testing them, and some of them are quite effective.
But again, why should I have to buy a £150 handset to screen
unsolicited calls? Why can providers not do more? They are starting
to talk now about doing more to identify in their networks when
very large volumes of calls are generated by businesses that we
know through the screening, through the complaints to the TPS,
Ofcom and the ICO, may be from firms that make nuisance calls.
So there are things that are being done,
but the burden is often on the consumer rather than the provider.[43]
35. We believe that it is in the commercial interests
of both mobile phone network operators and handset manufacturers
to filter out unwanted text messages and we urge them to make
greater efforts in this area.
Technical fixes
36. We received evidence from BT which includes an
overview of practical measures available to its customers wishing
to curtail nuisance calls. These include telephone advice lines
and a range of products and services. For example, the anonymous
call reject service allows customers to block calls from UK callers
who withhold their number. Caller display allows customers who
have suitable telephones to see the number that is calling before
deciding whether to answer. Call sign provides an additional
number with a different ring tone which customers can give to
family and friends to distinguish between incoming calls. BT
is continuing to assess ideas for "next generation nuisance
call blocking phones."[44]
From autumn 2013 some customers will start to see the calling
line identity (CLI) of calls from overseas. BT plans this to
be available to all its customers by autumn 2014 as exchanges
are upgraded.
37. One of the services that BT offers is "BT
Privacy at Home". BT told us that this is a service that
includes "free Caller Display" and registration with
the Telephone Preference Service (which is free anyway). BT later
told us that they intend to introduce a monthly charge of £1.75
for Caller Display; this is in line with some competitors and
out of line with others. BT provided us with the following background
which also casts doubts on their original assertion that their
caller display service was ever "free" in the first
place:
At the time the written evidence was produced
(and until January 2014), BT Privacy at Home (which included Caller
Display) was available to customers without a subscription fee.
However, they needed to sign up to a minimum monthly call commitment
or incur a charge of £2 per month where they did not meet
this. Many customers complained to us when they incurred the charge
under the old system so it made sense to drop the minimum call
commitment and simplify the product. From January 2014 BT Privacy
at Home will only register customers for the Telephone Preference
Service (TPS), but we will launch a new version of the product
called BT Privacy with Caller Display, which will provide TPS
registration and Caller Display.
From January 2014 customers will be able to get
BT Privacy with Caller Display free by signing up to a 12-month
line-rental contract (we have also made arrangements for customers
to pre-register prior to January). This is open to all BT customers
and easy to take advantage of. We are telling customers about
this, ensuring that people who want free BT Privacy with Caller
Display can have it. Free-of-charge services combined with contracts
are standard practice across the telecoms sector, as well as others.
The charge for BT Privacy with Caller Display
from 4 January 2014, if customers choose not to take the free
product with a line rental contract, will be £1.75 per month;
lower than the £2.25 per month charged by Virgin Media.[45]
38. Warren Buckley of BT was questioned on this point
by Alun Cairns MP during a recent hearing of the All-Party Parliamentary
Group on Nuisance Calls. Mr Cairns said: "nowadays caller
display is pretty standard and I would suggest there's absolutely
no additional cost in providing caller display to BT to every
customer, so therefore I would suggest that to charge for caller
display is completely unacceptable in any way, shape or form."[46]
We agree. We find BT's justification for charging for caller
display totally unconvincing and ask them to reconsider. Other
communications companies who charge their customers for a similar
facility should likewise consider providing this free of charge.
39. We received evidence from trueCall Ltd which
discussed a range of Second and Third Generation technologies
for blocking nuisance calls (trueCall is the given name of their
own Third Generation call blocking product). They told us:
Early in 2013 three Trading Standards teams—in
Angus, East Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire—carried
out independent projects to see how nuisance calls affected vulnerable
people, and to test the effectiveness of Second and Third Generation
systems. This was first time that this had ever been investigated.
During the trial Second Generation call blocking technology blocked
34% of the unwanted calls and Third Generation technology blocked
98%. When configured to protect the most vulnerable residents
a Third Generation system blocked 100% of the nuisance calls giving
them total protection.[47]
40. At the end of October 2013, TalkTalk announced
a new nuisance call reporting service which provides for the blocking,
at a network level, of repeat likely scam calls and nuisance sales
and marketing calls which have been investigated following customer
complaints.[48] If the
calls complained about meet criteria developed by TalkTalk, the
offending companies will be prevented from making calls to any
TalkTalk customers on the network.
41. We hope that the developments mentioned here,
and others, will prompt competitors to follow suit as soon as
commercial and technical barriers can be overcome. Companies
need to promote a wide range of technical options available to
their customers to screen, curtail, block and report nuisance
calls. The more of these technical fixes that are included in
standard packages, at no extra cost, the better.
34 Q 47 Back
35
Ev 78 Back
36
Q 70 Back
37
Q 72 Back
38
Q 74 Back
39
Qq 73-4 Back
40
Customers report unwanted texts to mobile operators using a 7726
"short code" Back
41
Q 78 Back
42
Ev 39 Back
43
Q 31 Back
44
Ev 51 Back
45
Ev 55 Back
46
House of Commons All-Party Parliamentary Group On Nuisance Calls,
Inquiry into the unsolicited marketing industry, Final Report,
October 2013 Back
47
Ev w 17 Back
48
http://www.talktalkgroup.com/press/press-releases/2013/30-10-2013.aspx
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