Ofcom has confirmed calls to ‘Freephone’ numbers are to become free from mobile phones.

The telecoms regulator made the decision after finding consumers still have a poor awareness of the cost of calling numbers which are supposed to be free – typically those beginning with 0800, 0808 and 116.

While calls from a landline to these numbers are generally free, consumers who do not have access to a fixed line and rely on mobiles are deterred from using them, Ofcom said.

As well as ensuring that “Freephone will mean free”, Ofcom is capping premium rate charges for 09 numbers.

Confusion around 0845 numbers will also be addressed so that the cost of calling these numbers will be broken into access and service charges and become clearer.

Only one slight catch. The changes wont be implemented for another 18 months. Still, it’s about time too.