Whether or not you want to train, renovate your roof or insulate your home, untimely telephone canvassing certainly does not leave you indifferent. Never mind, Arcep has just struck a blow by simply depriving companies of the possibility of using telephone numbers starting with 06 and 07, which will be reserved for individuals only from 1er January 2023.
9 for professionals
The telecoms regulator justifies this decision by its desire to “limit the nuisance suffered by end users receiving unsolicited calls or messages”, but also to avoid any “risk of shortage of 10-digit numbers”.
In return, Arcep indicates that it reserves “a new category of numbers starting with 09 to give interested players the possibility of implementing innovative communication solutions between a mobile subscriber and a technical platform”.
Companies wishing to maintain conversations by SMS or be put in contact in an ephemeral way (in the case of delivery companies or VTC) can use numbers starting with 09.
The general public turns a deaf ear
Various companies have already been sanctioned for breaching the principles set out by the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) concerning the telephone canvassing of people. This is notably the case of TotalEnergies, which was fined one million euros last June, among other things for its cold-calling methods which do not allow the right of access to data to be respected and the right of opposition.
The explosion of cold calling now leads many users to turn a deaf ear when their mobile rings.
According to figures provided by INSEE at the start of the year, 2% of cell phone owners say they never take a call, while 30% of them systematically filter their calls. On landlines, 17% of landline owners say they never pick up calls, while 26% of them only answer when they know the calling number.