Premium Rate Lines and an Overview of the Role of ICSTIS
This article is an overview of the regulatory services provided by ICSTIS. It is our hope that you will come to understand what service providers, individuals, and phone networks can expect from ICSTIS. ICSTIS regulates premium rate telephone services in the United Kingdom. It is an independent, non-profit organization that consists of a full-time executive and twelve board members.
In order to operate as a Premium Rate Service operator in the UK you need a registration with ICSTIS. At the time of registration the service providers must provide certain information to the regulatory body. After verifying the details an ICSTIS premium rate number is offered to the service provider.
The service provider must provide some minimum details to ICSTIS for getting a license. Some of these details are the telephone number ranges with which it wants to offer services, any website address that the service provider may need to link as part of the service, and the contact details of the directors. Once the registration is done the service provider is given a Service Provider Registration Number (SPN).
The important point to note here is that you need to register only once as a service provider. The charge that a service operator can charge for premium rate numbers is up to 1.50 per minute.The service providers should take care of any relevant legal and regulatory conditions before embarking on the service. There are some areas of Premium Rate Number services which are outside the purview of ICSTIS. These are legal, technical, commercial and matters related to services that do not charge via premium rate.
Telephone networks that plan to offer premium rate services need to register with ICSTIS before they start. This includes communication providers who would like to begin to originate and terminate services for premium rate numbers.
If you start your services without registering, ICSTIS has the right to initiate an investigation into your firm. You will also have to pay a levy to the regulatory body on the income that you generate.
It is ICSTIS’s job to make certain that the network companies and service providers do not take advantage of those who use the premium rate services. It requires that service providers offer accurate, precise pricing, and authentic advertising and service content. ICSTIS can prevent companies from operating Premium Rate Services if the companies breach the code of conduct of operations. To get clearance from ICSTIS in order to being services it takes approximately 30 days. For a service provider, the investment ranges from 0 to 50.
Once you have a service provider license from ICSTIS you can start any premium rate service such as weather forecasts, adult entertainment services or technical support services for hardware. ICSTIS plays the role of a father figure in the Premium Rate Number industry. ICSTIS is offering relentless service for the benefit of consumers, providers and operators. Without its presence we could have been in a jungle that is the Premium Rate service numbers.
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