Premium Rate Telephony
Some content is delivered via the telephone and for that you pay a premium accessing that telephone line. Examples are Astrology services, Professional and consultation services, Dating lines, Ringtone ordering lines or information lines such as from foreign embassies. Another frequently used application is call and win games or voting lines on TV channels, or trivia games that are played on the phone and the computer. The charges can be per minute (Timed Tariff) or per Call (Fixed Tariff or Drop Charge).
In most countries between the first 10 to 24 seconds of any call to a premium telephony number is free of charge.
If you make a call to these numbers, the rate is being stated and you have to confirm that you agree with the rate by pressing a key or by disconnecting if you don’t want to pay extra for the call. If you don’t press anything, the charging starts or in some countries, the connection will be dropped.