Alltel Calls for Lower-Cost Mobile Calls to 1800, 13 & 1300 Numbers

Online, June 9, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Alltel Pty Ltd (www.alltel.com.au), a leading provider of telecommunications solutions to Australian businesses, today announced that they have become an active supporter of ACCAN's "Fair Calls for All" campaign.

This campaign is aimed at getting Australia's big three mobile carriers to provide 1800, 13 & 1300 mobile calls at the same rate as landlines.

ACCAN is the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, so not surprisingly the initial focus of this campaign has been on the high cost paid by consumers to dial these numbers from mobiles.

More recently, they've also been looking into the impact that high mobile rates are having on businesses that use 1800, 13 & 1300 numbers.

If your business has one of these numbers, you'll already know that you pay not only a monthly fee, but also a per-call cost. Customers can then call you either for free (1800 number) or for the cost of a local call (13, 1300 numbers). These subsidised call rates help to encourage customers who may hesitate before dialling a long distance or mobile number.

When you think that businesses are already paying for the cost of these calls through their monthly fees and individual call costs, it's hard to understand how some mobile carriers justify the high rates they charge.

By charging such high rates, mobile carriers are not only hurting businesses who are trying to do the right thing for their customers, they're also charging their own customers a premium to use a service that has already been paid for.

Does this affect your business?

If your business uses a 1800, 13 or 1800 number, and you feel that high mobile rates are discouraging customers from calling and harming your business, ACCAN wants to hear from you.

The more businesses that provide information about the negative impact that high mobile call rates are having on them, the stronger the case is that ACCAN can present to the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) to try and get this issue resolved.

Visit the ACCAN web site at www.accan.org.au to contact them and find out more about the Fair Calls for All campaign.