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Julian Mattocks
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London (pte021/18.03.2005/11:15) - The number of calls to the British directory inquiry services has plummeted by 30 per cent since the old 192 number was privatised two years ago. As the Media Guardian http://www.mediaguardian.co.uk reports, although new entrants have spent an estimated 50 million pounds on advertising, the number of people saying they use the new 118-prefixed numbers has slumped from nearly 70 per cent to under 50 per cent in two years, according to a report. The current 118 118 directory inquiries number is the market leader with a 41 per cent share.
Over a third of people questioned in the survey by OfCom/ICSTIS said that they were using directory inquiries less since the old 192 number was abolished, with around two-thirds of them saying they would rather use the phonebook and 25 per cent the internet to find numbers. Over 50 per cent of consumers contacted by OfCom http://www.ofcom.org.uk gave price as the main reason why they shunned the services. According to the report, these services could cost up to 1.80 pounds from mobiles, with nearly a fifth wrongly stating that they believed calls to the old number 192 were free.
Only two services - 118, which uses the 70's-style comedy runners in its adverts, and BT's 118 500 have managed to obtain a market share in excess of 10 per cent. The two providers account for more than 65 per cent of calls in the 500 million pound directories' market, according to the OfCom report, which is based on self-reported figures rather than actual calls to 118 services. The number's 118 118 service leads the market with a 41 per cent share, followed by BT on 26 per cent. Mobile network Orange and Conduit's 11 88 88 have managed to get a 5 per cent share, while services from the likes of Tesco, British Gas and cable company Telewest are struggling with just 1 per cent. Fewer than half of the respondents said that they were aware of additional services such as restaurant finding, train times and emergency plumbers.
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