Sure provides access to UK Services

Companies based outside Guernsey offering premium or special rate lines have to notify Sure if they wish their numbers to be made available locally.

Sure, the local brand for Cable & Wireless,  will not block access provided the service being offered is legal and appropriate. However in some instances islanders may have to contact Sure first if they wish to use them.

It is the responsibility of companies providing premium or special rate services to notify operators in the locations where they wish them to be available, which in the case of Guernsey is Sure.

Every year the company receives thousands of such requests, all of which will have to be entered into the local exchange system before access is available from the island.

Those received from major telephone carriers, including BT and Cable & Wireless’ UK business, are automatically activated. However many others are for services that islanders will never access, and are often short-lived. These are often only entered onto the system if a local customer requests them.

Sure's Director of Customer Operations, Mark McConnell explained there was little point in the company routinely activating thousands of new numbers that will never be used.

"Provided that the service being offered is still available, and is not inappropriate, we will be happy to provide access. Although we do not routinely activate every number that we receive, if we are contacted by a customer with a request then we check it is still available and then pass this to the core engineering team who will then activate it."

"We would also stress that it is the responsibility of operators who provide such services to notify us if they want us to make them available, which in some instances does not happen. It may be that they are not targeting the islands."