The operators are betting more and more to derive functions to their applications or customer management areas. These allow things like querying the remaining megabytes or making certain adjustments on the line. In the case of O2, we can see invoices, what we have contracted, the consumption of the landline phone, the consumption of mobile data, the consumption of calls from the mobile line, the consumption of SMS from the mobile line, add extra data bonuses, view unpaid bills or total debt amount. However, it also allows us to do things that can save us a good bill scare like blocking calls to special numbers and premium SMS on O2.
As much as the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) and other organizations try, the truth is that the “issue” of special numbers and premium SMS is a bit out of control in Spain, or at least that’s the feeling of the users. There is a certain impunity for those who use them unethically and in the end the best recommendation we can give is to block these numbers by default on our telephone lines.
Activate the special number lock and have no surprises
O2 has dedicated a section on its website to explain how to block special calls from the app. As we know, this is available for iOS and Android and allows us to perform a multitude of functions. For what we are dealing with in this article, we will follow these simple steps:
- Open the Mi O2 app
- Access the nut-shaped icon at the bottom (management area)
- Select the line on which we want to apply the blocking of special rate numbers
- Click on perform management
- Access the option Blocking special numbers
- Activate or deactivate the desired options between:
- Block calls to 118X numbers
- Block calls to numbers 905 and 80X
- Block premium adult SMS and subscriptions
- Block rest of Premium SMS
From O2 they confirm that the process of activating and deactivating the lock may take a few minutes. In the case of each option, this is what we block:
- 118XX numbers: block and unblock calls at 118xx with a cost of less than 2.5 euros per minute . Calls with a higher cost are blocked by default. If you want to unlock the latter, you must call 1551.
- Numbers 905 and 80X: they are blocked by default
- Premium adult SMS and subscriptions: blocked by default
- Rest of premium SMS: blocked by default