Learn The Facts

Facts About the Premium Rate Number Business
The premium rate industry, widely know as "Pay-Per-Call" Information Lines, is a thriving billion pound industry with an ever increasing volume of calls year after year. Premium rate numbers provide a large variety of packaged information, entertainment and live services that people are eager to call. You see them advertised everywhere, more particularly on television where virtually ever programme now uses them to generate exttra revenue.

When you operate a premium rate telephone service your profits are made from the number of calls your service receives. All calls are tracked so that you receive accurate call reports and regular monthly payments.

The Ideal Cash Generating Business
Premium rate numbers were first created in the USA 1980 for ABC Television during the Reagan/Carter debates. The premium rate numbers totalled over 500,000 calls during the debate.

Premium rate numbers for informational use came in 1982 when NASA started an information line giving details of the space shuttle flights. Soon after, national companies realized the incredible income opportunities available in premium rate numbers.

In 1987, (after the privatisation of British Telecom) premium rate numbers were introduced to the UK. This meant that anyone, anywhere could provide both recorded information and live services to the whole country - regardless of the location. Within a matter on months hundreds of premium rate services covering a whole variety of topics began to spring up.Today, literally thousands of premium rate services are promoted in daily newspapers, magazines, on television and the Internet.

Today the cost of starting a premium rate lines has through the advent of Service Bureaus has become affordable for most people to take advantage of the opportunities offered!

Premium Rate Numbers: Terms and Definitions

• Premium Rate Number - A premium pay-per-call prefix set by the telecommunications carrier in conjunction with OFCOM, specifically used for content and programs.
• Activation - Establishment of account, set-up of premium rate lines, which includes installation of daily call tracking and pay ready system.
• Call Count - total number of calls received by a premium rate number.
• Call Count Volume - volume in minutes for any given period. (ie: 7 calls per day @ 6 minutes each = 42 minutes X 30 days = 1260 minutes)
• Call Count Revenue - total revenue generated by call count volume.
• Information provider - The "owner" of a premium rate service, who is in the business of providing information for business, personal or entertainment purposes.
• Programs - the content or material presented on a premium rate service.
• Phonepayplus - governing body that regulates all 090 telephone services.
• Live Bond - £20,000 deposit required before you can start a live 090 clairvoyant service.
• Service Bureau - An entity which is accredited by one of the major telephone carries (for example, British telecom or Cable and Wireless) to process, program, and sell premium rate numbers. The carrier pays the service bureau for call count revenue, and in turn the service bureau remits payment to the I.P.'s on a monthly basis.
• Telco - any federally accredited telecommunications carrier which also bills consumers for premium rate activity.