A chain e-mail is making the rounds warning people not to make 1-900 telephone calls because of their unreasonable costs. In contrast to many baseless chain e-mail claims, this one is grounded in fact.
A 1-800 call is free, and a 1-700 call incurs a single charge of NIS 0.39 regardless of the length of the call. However, the charge for a call to 1-900 numbers, which were launched in Israel on January 1, 2011, is far higher, and can reach NIS 1 per minute.
1-900 numbers are usually for services that involve long calls, such as religion, astrology, or dating.
1-900 numbers are more common today thanks to the reduction in inter-network connectivity fees. This is because 1-900 content providers used to use mobile access numbers, from which they garnered handsome profits from connectivity fees. Since connectivity fees were cut by 70%, these service provides switched to 1-900 numbers.
Although 1-900 number does not involve a connectivity fee, the charge for the call makes up for this. The call charge breaks down as follows: the regular tariff for the call paid to the telecommunications vendor on the basis of the fixed line or mobile plan (for example, NIS 0.50 per minute); and an additional payment set by the service provider for the content, which can reach NIS 0.50 per minute. As a result, the cost of a 1-900 call can reach NIS 1 per minute or more.
The Ministry of Communications says that, as is the case with every other service, the content provider is required to inform the customer of the tariff in advance, under the Consumer Protection Law. The content provider has the right to charge the customer an additional fee for the provision of content only if it provides the service for which the customer made the call.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 2, 2011
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