Telkom withdraws dialling claims

By Damaria Senne for Telkom
Johannesburg, 28 Feb 2007

Telkom's educational campaign for its 10-digit dialling system has hit a snag, as the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered the operator to withdraw certain claims made in a television advert.

This comes after two consumers challenged, as misleading, Telkom's claims that 10-digit dialling will create more telephone numbers and that the practice is in line with international trends.

The ASA ruled Telkom's statement, that the use of the area code to make local calls is in line with the rest of the world, is unsubstantiated.

The use of the phrase "just like the rest of the world has done..." in the TV advert implies the use of the area code is a global trend adopted by all, or, at least, most countries throughout the world, it said.

However, submissions from Telkom and the material submitted to the authority only provided evidence that four other countries - Austria, Bahrain, Greece and Spain - use the system.

The fixed-line operator was, therefore, instructed to withdraw the statement with immediate effect. Telkom was also instructed not to make the claim until further substantiation was received and evaluated by the ASA.

Telkom did, however, submit an explanation to the ASA on how the inclusion of an area code for local calls would enable more telephone numbers to be issued.

The ASA also accepted evidence provided by Telkom, stating the new system is in compliance with regulations issued by the Independent Communications Authority of SA ASA.

The fixed-line operator is running a parallel system where local calls that do not include a dialling code are routed to a request that callers dial 10 digits when making the call.

This service will continue until 16 March, when local calls that do not include dialling codes will be routed to a "number unavailable" tone.