Quote:

"Freespeech email"
** IMPORTANT - AFFECTS ALL FREESPEECH USERS ** From the 30th of September 2008 freespeech will no longer be routing calls from the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) to VoIP phones using the 076 (VoIP) number range.

I just want to express my absolute dismay and disappointment to read that Freespeech has pulled the plug on receiving PSTN originated calls on my 076 number.

I used my 076 number to receive calls from around the country purely because it was non-geographic, and thus the caller was charged the same rate no matter from where their call originated in the country.

This decision by Freespeech has made my number useless to me.

I will now have to go to the trouble of notifying everybody who has the present number of another number -- when I find a supplier who will route calls to a 076 number -- and make the necessary arrangements.

I would love to fully express my feelings, but realise that such expressions would not be appropriate on a forum!

JohnBoy

Hi,
having cooled down somewhat I would now like to ask if Freespeech has put in place any arrangements that would allow people to move their 076 number to some other operator who is prepared to allow incoming calls to the 076 number?

The whole idea of the Com Ref allocating such numbers was to make them accessible. I want my number to be accessible. Freespeech will no longer make that available.

So what is Freespeech suggesting I do?
Is there some proposal from Freespeech that will allow me to continue to receive calls on my 076 number?

Time is running out ..... is this a matter for Freespeech or should one contact the Com Reg for some assistance?

Regards,

JohnBoy

The lack of a reply to you JohnBoy is somewhat disappointing.

Personally the lack of incoming calls is not important to me, but I can understand why you would be so annoyed.

cfarrell Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The lack of a reply to you JohnBoy is somewhat
> disappointing.
>
> Personally the lack of incoming calls is not
> important to me, but I can understand why you
> would be so annoyed.


Thank you for responding cfarrell.

I did not add to this thread until now because I wished to give Freespeech the benefit of the doubt.
They have used up all that benefit I'm afraid.

I would point out that it would have been acceptable for me to pay a small fee to continue with having the 076 number accessible. I was not given the option and my problem appears not to be of interest.

I have made alternate arrangements now, have notified those who need to know of my new 076 number so hopefully I will have no more need for Freespeech.

Johnboy

** Message from Kevin Brennan - Managing Director **

As we said in the announcement we apologise for any inconvenience caused to those using 076 numbers for incoming calls.

We were unable to bear the cost of providing 076 numbers to customers and the demand for them was very low.

>I would point out that it would have been acceptable for me to pay a small fee
Unfortunately a small fee would not cover the cost of providing the numbers to the individuals using them. Based on INCOMING USAGE the estimated COST per month of each number was approximately €10. Contrary to what you may think we were not getting payments for incoming calls.

We looked at alternatives in routing but there are a very limited number of options in Ireland with 076 at this time. Any change in carrier is costly and we were adamant to avoid 'carrier lock in', the situation which caused obscene price hikes with our past 076 interconnect agreement.

There are many issues with VoIP and number provisioning which have not been well thought out by the regulator such as porting, routing and peering arrangements between operators (specifically for VoIP). In my personal opinion the numbers should 'belong' to the subscriber and they should be able to freely choose which provider it is tied to (much like you can do with domains in the internet space). We hope this will become the case in the future and we hope we (freespeech) can contribute to this change in thinking.

We look forward to being able to re-introduce the 076 range in the future when market is more mature and more carrier options are available.

Johnboy, we wish you luck with your new provider, please do continue to support independent VoIP providers as they are the ones pushing the barriers of the establishment. We will continue to strive at freespeech to provide more freedom to phone users in Ireland.

Kevin Brennan
Managing Director

Aside: Apologies for not posting a reply sooner, the forum is mainly meant for customers to exchange ideas and is very loosely moderated. If you want to have rapid response please contact the support desk and it will be brought to my attention.