Posted on: 25th June 2021, by Magrathea
Why this is happening
In the UK, charges to fixed line and mobile numbers have been capped at a price set by the regulator for many years. The UK regulator has now determined (in line with many other international regulators) that it is fair for networks to charge a surcharge to the agreed termination rate for calls from countries that make a higher than normal charge to call their own networks and, as a result, a number of UK networks have now decided to use this flexibility granted to them. These surcharges are charged to all carriers directly connecting to these networks and will soon be universal on calls to the UK from overseas destinations.
When this is happening
Surcharge pricing will be effective on all wholesale tariffs from 1st July 2021. At this time, it applies to calls made to three out of the four large UK mobile networks. If a number has been ported between networks we use the rangeholder network to determine if the call is surcharged.
How we will identify which calls have a surcharge
We will always use the Network CLI to determine if a surcharge is applicable. If a caller sends more than one calling party number with the call (for example an additional presentation number or diversion number) it will be ignored for this purpose.
As part of this, calls with origination numbers that are missing/malformed/invalid/unreadable will be surcharged at the maximum rate applied by that network. Details of the exact charges are shown in the rate files. For the avoidance of doubt, in most cases a number must be dialable on the PSTN network to be classed as valid.
The Network CLI should be provided in the PAID header for SIP calls, please refer to our Line Identity Agreement for full details on CLI usage https://mdh-dev-web-01.magrathea.net/wp-content/uploads/LI-Agreement-1.pdf
How we will provide your rates and data
The pricing will be provided in two formats in line with our standard rate sheet design, one file has the pricing by origination name, and one by origination dial code. Moving forward, these files will be included in all future rate releases and are subject to our standard 7-day notice terms.
As with all of the downloadable CDRs produced on our platform, the debit field will contain the total amount that was charged for the call. Your CDR files will remain in the current format.
In brief
- This applies to outbound calls only (i.e. any call you place via your Magrathea SIP or IAX account).
- This only applies to calls made to UK mobiles (EE, Vodafone and Three currently) from 1st July 2021. A further notification will be sent when more networks or number types are added.
- The surcharge rate is in addition to the usual rate and is ‘per minute’, so you should add the two together to get your total call charge.
- The format of our CDR file will remain the same, the debit field will show the total cost of the call, including any surcharge that was applied.
- The charge is dependent on the egress leg of the call, and any CLIs applied need to be within the CLI guidance.
Check if this impacts you
- If you only ever send your calls with a valid UK network CLI then you don’t need to worry about this, those calls are unaffected.
- If you send calls to us with missing, invalid or incorrectly formatted network CLI then you will be surcharged as per our rate sheet.
- If you send calls to us with an international network CLI, from a country that appears in the surcharge list, then you will be surcharged as per our rate sheet
- If you operate your account with us on a restricted tariff your account will not allow calls to proceed that would result in a surcharge.
Next steps
Please do check if this impacts you as you may need to make billing changes yourself if you wish to pass on any surcharge costs to your customers.
If you have any queries on specific calling scenarios, please drop an email to support@magrathea-telecom.co.uk and we will try to help.
We will be sending further updates over the coming days and weeks as this new system settles into live use, meanwhile if you have any feedback or issues please do get in touch.
Please also note that further additional surcharge destinations including UK fixed line will be applicable from the 1st August 2021, details of these charges will be made available during the course of July. We also expect other UK networks to introduce similar charges going forward.