Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom

"+44" redirects here. For the band, see +44 (band).

United Kingdom telephone numbers

Location of United Kingdom (dark green)
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Continent	Europe
Access codes
Country calling	+44
International prefix	00
Trunk prefix	0
Dial plan
Regulator	Ofcom
Type	Open
NSN length	10 mostly; 9 in some 01xxx areas, 9 in one 01xxxx area, 9 for all 0500 numbers, 9 for some 0800 numbers; 7 for two special 08xx numbers.
Typical format	NSN = 10: (01xxxx) xxxxx (01xxx) xxxxxx (01x1) xxx xxxx (011x) xxx xxxx (02x) xxxx xxxx 03xx xxx xxxx 055 xxxx xxxx 056 xxxx xxxx 070 xxxx xxxx 07624 xxxxxx 076 xxxx xxxx 07xxx xxxxxx 0800 xxx xxxx 08xx xxx xxxx 09xx xxx xxxx NSN = 9: (016977) xxxx (01xxx) xxxxx 0500 xxxxxx 0800 xxxxxx NSN = 7: 0800 1111 0845 46 4x Notes: 01 ranges can have NSN as 10 or 9. 0800 range can have NSN as 10, 9 or 7. 0845 range can have NSN as 10 or 7 0500 range has NSN as 9 only.
List of United Kingdom codes

The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning telephone numbers in the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies. It is regulated by the UK government's Office of Communications (Ofcom), which holds responsibility for telecommunications.

Overview

Since 28 April 2001, almost all geographic numbers and most non-geographic numbers have 9 or 10 national (significant) numbers after the "0" trunk code. All mobile telephone numbers have 10 national (significant) numbers after the "0" trunk code. The overall structure of the UK's National Numbering Plan is:

Prefix	Service type
01	Geographic area codes.
02	Geographic area codes (introduced in 2000).
03	Nationwide non-geographic code, charged to caller at geographic area code rates (introduced 2007). These calls are included free in plans with "inclusive minutes", unlike 08 numbers, some of which can incur extra charges, depending on the operator.
04	Reserved.
05	Corporate numbering and VoIP services (note: some VoIP services use 08 or geographic numbers). Freephone (toll free) on 0500.
06	Was reserved for possible use by Personal Numbering instead of 070 following consumer confusion with mobile phones.
07	Mostly for mobile (cell) phones on 074xx, 075xx, 07624, 077xx, 078xx, and 079xx. WiFi numbers on 079112 and 079118. Personal Numbering on 070. Pagers on 076xx.
08	Freephone (toll free) on 080, and Special Services (formerly known as local and national rate) on 084 and 087.
09	Premium Rate services.

A short sample of geographic numbers, set out in the officially approved (Ofcom) number groups:

Number	Location
(020) xxxx xxxx	London
(029) xxxx xxxx	Cardiff
(0113) xxx xxxx	Leeds
(0116) xxx xxxx	Leicester
(0131) xxx xxxx	Edinburgh
(0151) xxx xxxx	Liverpool
(01382)  xxxxxx	Dundee
(01386)  xxxxxx	Evesham
(01865)  xxxxxx	Oxford
(01792)  xxxxxx	Swansea
(01204)   xxxxx	Bolton
(015396) xxxxx	Sedbergh
(016977)  xxxx	Brampton

In the United Kingdom, area codes are two, three, four, or, rarely, five digits long (after the initial zero). Regions with shorter area codes, typically large cities, permit the allocation of more telephone numbers as the local number portion has more digits. Local customer numbers are four to eight figures long. The total number of digits is ten, but in a very few areas the total may be nine digits (after the initial zero). The "area code" is also referred to as an "STD (code)" (subscriber trunk dialling) or a "dialling code" in the UK.

The code allocated to the largest population is (020) for London. The code allocated to the largest area is (028) for all of Northern Ireland. The UK Numbering Plan also applies to three British Crown dependencies—Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man—even though they are not part of the UK itself.

For dialling the United Kingdom from overseas, Ofcom and ITU-T recommendation E.123 states that numbers be written in the form:

Number	Location
+44 20 xxxx xxxx	London
+44 29 xxxx xxxx	Cardiff
+44 113 xxx xxxx	Leeds
+44 116 xxx xxxx	Leicester
+44 131 xxx xxxx	Edinburgh
+44 151 xxx xxxx	Liverpool
+44 1382  xxxxxx	Dundee
+44 1386  xxxxxx	Evesham
+44 1865  xxxxxx	Oxford
+44 1792  xxxxxx	Swansea
+44 1204   xxxxx	Bolton
+44 15396 xxxxx	Sedbergh
+44 16977  xxxx	Brampton

It is common to see the form +44 (0)xxx xxx xxxx used instead (with an additional zero in brackets). This form is not recommended by Ofcom^[1] because it might confuse the reader. Callers within the United Kingdom substitute the +44 with the number zero (0). Calling +44 0xxx xxx xxxx will not work from most operators. It is therefore recommended to show the number in either the national or the international format, but not a mixture of both formats. The international format shows only those digits that overseas callers must dial.

Storing any UK telephone number in a mobile phone, or directly dialling it from the keypad, in the correct +44 <area code> <local number> international format (without the leading zero) allows the number to work when the mobile is calling out from any country of the world, including whilst still located within the UK. The "plus" sets the number type to international and so no International Access Code is required.

Format

Geographic numbering

Main article: List of United Kingdom dialling codes

• (01xxx) xxxxxx

This is the format used by most areas. It has a four-digit area code (after the initial zero) and a six digit subscriber number. These area codes were changed by adding a "1" directly after the initial zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995. Just short of 581 areas use this format, and the area codes range from 01200 to 01998 (except those that match the pattern 1x1 after the initial zero). A small number of these areas also have a few subscriber numbers that have only five digits. That is, almost all (01xxx) area codes now have only six digit local numbers. e.g.

01224	Aberdeen	22 = AB
01244	Chester	24 = CH
01382	Dundee	38 = DU
01429	Hartlepool	42 = HA
01482	Hull	48 = HU
01582	Luton	58 = LU
01670	Morpeth	67 = MP
01730	Petersfield	73 = PE
01736	Penzance	73 = PE
01772	Preston	77 = PR
01853	Ullapool	85 = UL
01947	Whitby	94 = WH

• (01xxx) xxxxx

This is used for forty smaller towns where the subscriber number is five digits long.^[2] The numbers therefore have only nine digits after the initial zero trunk code. These area codes were changed by adding a "1" directly after the initial zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995. Some of these towns have a mixture of six and five digit local numbers, others have only five digit local numbers. The number of such places has declined rapidly in recent decades. There were 511 ranges allocated across 56 different area codes in January 1998. The Big Number Change removed many, especially in Northern Ireland, and by July 2005 there were only 329 ranges in 42 codes. By April 2010 this had reduced to 324 ranges in 40 codes. e.g.

01204	Bolton	20 = BO
01527	Redditch
01750	Selkirk	75 = SK
01900	Workington	90 = WO
01946	Whitehaven	94 = WH

• (01x1) xxx xxxx

This is the geographical number format for the first round of five large cities moved to all figure dialling in the 1960s, and subsequently also used in the former metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, eastern County Durham and south-eastern Northumberland from the 1980s onwards. These six areas have a three-digit area code matching the pattern 1x1 (after the initial zero) and a seven digit subscriber number. These area codes were changed by adding a "1" directly after the initial zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995. The first three digits of the local number identifies a small area within the city.

0121	Birmingham	formerly 021 (2 = B)
0131	Edinburgh	formerly 031 (3 = E)
0141	Glasgow	formerly 041 (4 = G)
0151	Liverpool	formerly 051 (5 = L)
0161	Manchester	formerly 061 (6 = M)
0171	Used for inner London until 2000
0181	Used for outer London until 2000
0191	Former county of Tyne and Wear, eastern County Durham, south-eastern Northumberland	formerly 091

• (011x) xxx xxxx

This is the geographical number format for the second round of large cities and towns moved to brand-new three-digit area codes. Five of these were moved in 1995 as a part of PhONEday. Reading followed a year later. At the time of the change, an extra digit was added to the subscriber number. These six areas have a three-digit area code matching the pattern 11x, with a seven-digit subscriber number. The first three digits of the local number identifies a small area within the town or city. Note that the former Reading area code had already been changed once, by adding a "1" directly after the initial zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995.

0113	Leeds	formerly 0532 (53 = LE)
0114	Sheffield	formerly 0742 (74 = SH)
0115	Nottingham	formerly 0602 (60 = NO)
0116	Leicester	formerly 0533 (53 = LE)
0117	Bristol	formerly 0272 (27 = BR)
0118	Reading	formerly 01734 (73 = RE)

• (02x) xxxx xxxx

This is the newest geographical number format. It is used for the third tier of large cities and for Northern Ireland, and was formed as a part of the Big Number Change in 2000. The new area code is much shorter than the old one, and begins 02 unlike the previous 01 area codes. Numbers in these five areas are commonly misquoted, e.g. London as 0207 or Cardiff as 02920. The numbers consist of a two-digit area code matching the pattern 02x, and an eight-digit subscriber number. The first four digits of the local number identifies a small area within the town or city. At the time of the change, the subscriber part of the number gained an extra digit in London, those in Northern Ireland gained two or three digits, and the subscriber part of the number in the other areas gained two digits. All of these areas were also subject to a previous code change, one that added a "1" directly after the initial zero, as a part of PhONEday in 1995. The short area code is also known as a wide area code.

020	London	formerly 0171 and 0181 (1995–2000), 071 and 081 (1990–1995), 01 (1960s-1990)
023	Southampton	(023) 8xxx xxxx formerly 01703 (70 = SO)
	Portsmouth	(023) 9xxx xxxx formerly 01705 (70 = PO)
024	Coventry	formerly 01203 (20 = CO)
028	Northern Ireland	(028) 25xx xxxx Ballymena formerly (01266) xxxxxx
		(028) 28xx xxxx Larne formerly (01574) xxxxxx
		(028) 37xx xxxx Armagh formerly (01861) xxxxxx
		(028) 71xx xxxx Derry formerly (01504) xxxxxx
		(028) 82xx xxxx Omagh formerly (01662) xxxxxx
		(028) 90xx xxxx Belfast formerly (01232) xxxxxx
		(028) 92xx xxxx Lisburn formerly (01846) xxxxxx
		(028) 95xx xxxx Belfast new number range
029	Cardiff	formerly 01222 (22 = CA)

• (01xxxx) xxxxx and (01xxxx) xxxx

This is the oldest geographical number format and is used for twelve smaller towns and villages where the subscriber number is either four or five digits long. Note that therefore the STD code and the subscriber number does not always total ten digits after the initial zero trunk code. These area codes were changed by adding a "1" directly after the initial zero as a part of PhONEday in 1995. The number of places using these two formats has declined rapidly in recent decades and Hallbankgate/Brampton is the last place in the UK with four-digit local numbers.

013873	Langholm
015242	Hornby
015394	Hawkshead
015395	Grange-over-Sands
015396	Sedbergh
016973	Wigton
016974	Raughton Head
016977	Brampton[3][4]
017683	Appleby
017684	Pooley Bridge
017687	Keswick
019467	Gosforth

National Dialling Only ranges

These ranges have subscriber numbers beginning with the digits "0" or "1", e.g.:

01332 050xxx	Derby
01382 006xxx	Dundee
0141 005 xxxx	Glasgow
0117 101 xxxx	Bristol
0118 00x xxxx	Reading
020 0003 xxxx	London

Currently, these numbers are mostly used as the termination points for non-geographic numbers, and by some automated systems such as alarms. As such they are not usually meant to be directly dialled. These numbers have been problematic as some mobile phone operators in the UK do not allow access to these ranges^{[citation needed]}, and there may also be difficulty accessing these numbers from outside the UK. Regulator Ofcom proposes that in future these numbers be released for wider, general-purpose use in up to 70 area codes facing number shortage.^[5] In order to avoid confusion with codes beginning with these digits, the area code must always be dialled, even from within the same geographic exchange. Accordingly, if these numbers are eventually released for general use, Ofcom proposes completely removing the ability to dial locally without the area code in areas affected.

Non-geographic numbering

Main article: Non-geographical numbers

• 03xx xxx xxxx—"UK-wide" numbering.

On 27 July 2006, Ofcom announced that companies will soon be able to use an "03" non-geographic number, in place of other non-geographic numbers (such as 0870 or 0845 numbers). Callers would be charged at the same rate as if they were calling a geographic number (01 or 02).^[6] This means that customers who are benefiting from "free" minutes on mobile phones or landlines would also be able to call these numbers using their inclusive minutes.^[7] On 13 February 2007, Ofcom released more details on their plans for the 03 range and announced that allocations of 03 numbers to providers would begin in March 2007. Whilst 01, 02 and 07 numbers can receive text messages, currently the majority of cellular network providers do not support the sending of text messages to 03 numbers. Three different ranges of numbers were announced; those beginning 0300/0303 are reserved for qualifying public bodies and non-profit organisations, those beginning 0330/0333, which are available for allocation to anyone, and those beginning 034x/037x which will be used for migration from the 084x and 087x number ranges respectively. Ofcom itself began using 03 numbers on 13 November 2007 for public use.^[8]

030x xxx xxxx	For qualifying public bodies and non-profit organisations as defined by Ofcom
033x xxx xxxx	For any end user
034x xxx xxxx	Migration range for operators who have 084x numbers
037x xxx xxxx	Migration range for operators who have 087x numbers

• 05x xxxx xxxx—Reserved for corporate numbering.

Unlike 03 numbers there is no uniform pricing for 05 numbers; BT charge a number of different rates depending on the number dialled.^[9] Some are charged at geographic rate, others not, and unlike 03 numbers, other operators are not required to charge the same rates as BT for calling 05 numbers.

055 xxxx xxxx	Corporate Numbering (but also used by BT for its Broadband Voice service)
056 xxxx xxxx	Allocated by Ofcom for LIECS (Location Independent Electronic Communications Services), such as VoIP services

• 0500 xxxxxx—Freefone services allocated before 1999.

The 0500 range is used for some freephone services which were originally provided by Mercury Communications Ltd (now Cable & Wireless Worldwide). These numbers are different from the rest of the 05 range in that they are only 10 digits in length, e.g. 0500 2 88 2 91 (BBC Radio 2, 88 to 91 FM), as they were allocated before the 05 range was assigned to corporate numbering.

0500 xxxxxx[10]	"Freephone" (free to call from landline, up to 40p per minute from mobile).

• 07xxx xxxxxx—mobile phones, pagers, Personal Numbering and WiFi numbers.

Individual mobile phone companies are allocated different ranges within the 074xx, 075xx, 07624, 077xx, 078xx and 079xx area codes. Changes to mobile phone numbers were mostly straight replacements, such as Vodafone customers on the 0378 block became 07778.

070 xxxx xxxx	Personal Numbering
074xx xxxxxx	Mobile phones (in use since November 2009)
075xx xxxxxx	Mobile phones (in use since May 2007)
076xx xxxxxx	Pagers (excluding 07624, used for mobile phones on the Isle of Man)
077xx xxxxxx	Mobile phones (former 03xx and 04xx—mostly Vodafone and O2 (formerly Cellnet)
078xx xxxxxx	Mobile phones (former 05xx, 06xx and 08xx—mostly Vodafone and O2 (formerly Cellnet)
079xx xxxxxx	Mobile phones (former 09xx—mostly Orange and T-Mobile (formerly one2one)
07911 2xxxxx 07911 8xxxxx	WiFi numbers (used by companies such as Tovo and Mobiboo)

Since the advent of Mobile number portability, mobile phone number prefixes can no longer be relied on to determine the current operator of a particular mobile phone – only the original operator.

• 08xx xxx xxxx—Non-geographic fixed-rate, or special-rate services.

With the exception of 080x freephone numbers, these are charged above geographic rates, with the extra going to the terminating telco. This additional revenue may be shared with the subscriber, but is often used instead to subsidise additional network services, such as fax to email, virtual office applications, call queuing, voicemail and easy number redirection. There is widespread confusion about the cost of calling 084/087 numbers, with many major companies persisting in misdescribing them as "Local Rate", "Lo Call" or "National Rate". They often do not qualify for discounts and bundled minutes, and can be prohibitively expensive when called from mobiles and payphones. None of these services are exclusive to 08xx numbers, and could be provided on any number range. More affordable equivalent numbers can often be found via www.saynoto0870.com.

0800 xxxxxx[11] 0800 xxx xxxx 0808 xxx xxxx	"Freephone" (free to call from landline, up to 40p per minute from mobile. Calls to certain charity and similar services are free from mobile).
0820 xxx xxxx	Internet for Schools
0845 xxx xxxx	Up to 5p a minute, varies daytime/evening/weekend
0844 2xx xxxx	Up to 6p a minute, varies daytime/evening/weekend
0844 3xx xxxx	Up to 6p a minute, varies daytime/evening/weekend
0844 4xx xxxx	Up to 6p a minute, varies daytime/evening/weekend
0844 5xx xxxx	Up to 6p a minute, varies daytime/evening/weekend
0844 6xx xxxx	Up to 6.2p a minute, varies daytime/evening/weekend
0844 7xx xxxx	Up to 6p a minute, varies daytime/evening/weekend
0844 8xx xxxx	Up to 6p a minute, varies daytime/evening/weekend
0844 9xx xxxx	Up to 6p a minute, varies daytime/evening/weekend
0843 xxx xxxx	Up to 5p a minute but fixed (e.g. always 4p/minute or always 5p/minute)
0842 xxx xxxx	Up to 5p a minute but fixed (e.g. always 4p/minute or always 5p/minute)
0870 xxx xxxx	Up to 8p a minute, varies daytime/evening/weekend
0871 2xx xxxx to 0871 9xx xxxx	Up to 10p a minute but fixed (e.g. always 8p/minute or always 10p/minute)
0872 xxx xxxx	Up to 10p a minute but fixed (e.g. always 8p/minute or always 10p/minute)
0873 xxx xxxx	Up to 10p a minute but fixed (e.g. always 8p/minute or always 10p/minute)

There are also several very short "special" numbers in these ranges, notably 0800 1111 for Childline and 0845 46 47 for NHS Direct.

• 09xx xxx xxxx—Premium Rate Content Services

Numbers in the 09xx range are charged at the highest rates of any calls within the United Kingdom, and are controlled by various regulations regarding their use. The regulator is PhonepayPlus, formerly known as ICSTIS. There are a large number of charge bands, some with high pence-per-minute rates, others with a high fixed-price for the entire call.

090x xxx xxxx	Premium rate content services
0908 xxx xxxx 0909 xxx xxxx 0982 xxx xxxx	Sexual entertainment services
091x xxx xxxx	Premium rate non-content services
092x xxx xxxx to 099x xxx xxxx	Broadband services

Crown dependencies

• Guernsey, Alderney, Sark

(01481) xxxxxx	Fixed line	48 = GU
(01481) 832xxx (01481) 833xxx	Fixed line (Sark)
07781 xxxxxx	Sure mobile phones and pagers
07839 xxxxxx	Airtel Vodafone mobile phones
07911 xxxxxx	Wave Telecom mobile phones Not for uk

• Jersey^[12]

(01534) xxxxxx	Fixed line	53 = JE
07509 xxxxxx 07797 xxxxxx 07937 xxxxxx	Jersey Telecom mobile phones and pagers
07700 xxxxxx	Sure mobile network
07829 xxxxxx	Airtel Vodafone mobile network

• Isle of Man

(01624) xxxxxx	Fixed line	62 = MA
07624 xxxxxx	Mobile phones and paging services
07524 xxxxxx 07924 xxxxxx	Mobile phones additional capacity

On the Isle of Man, both fixed and mobile phone numbers can be dialled locally in the six-digit format.

Although calls from UK landlines to landlines in the islands are charged at the same rate as those to other UK landlines (i.e. they are not treated as international calls), calls may be excluded from calling plans offering unlimited UK fixed line calls, and some mobile operators may also charge more. Calls and SMS messages sent to island mobile phone numbers are not charged at the same rate as calls to UK mobile phone numbers.

Fictitious numbers

Ofcom has also reserved certain number ranges for use in television dramas and films, so as to avoid the risk of people having their telephone numbers displayed, and receiving unwanted calls. This is similar to the use of fictitious telephone numbers in the United States and Canada with the digits 555.

In most of the large cities with three-digit area codes a range of numbers is reserved, usually all the numbers starting with the digits 496. For fictitious numbers in other areas the area code 01632 is reserved; this code is not in use, although 0632 was used for Newcastle upon Tyne until the late 1980s (63 = NE). There are also reserved ranges for fictitious mobile, freephone, and premium rate numbers.^[13][14]

At around the same time as the other Big Number Change changes, Ofcom revised their recommendations to update the prefixes, add additional areas, and increase the size of the allocation from 10 to 1000 numbers per block. Those changes are listed in the Big Number Change article.

In Coronation Street, the fictional Manchester suburb of Weatherfield uses the unallocated range (0161) 715 xxxx.^[15]

Special service numbers

Short codes beginning with 1 are reserved for telecom service providers' own functionality; some of the most well-known are codes for use with Caller Display:

141	Withhold number	when normally released
1470	Release number	when normally withheld
1471	Call return	caller may press 3 to return call on most networks
1475	1471 erasure	removes details of last call from 1471 service
1571	Voicemail service commonly provided by providers for people who do not have answering machines. If there is a new message, the dial tone will be stuttered.

The UK has two free emergency numbers—the traditional 999, which is still widely used, and the EU standard 112, which can be used in all member states of the European Union. Both 999 and 112 are used to contact all emergency services: Police, Fire Service, Ambulance Service, Mountain Rescue, Coastguard and Cave Rescue.

Both numbers can be called from mobile phones with the keylock on, or without entering the PIN where that would otherwise be required. Although some mobile phones allow emergency calls to be attempted without a SIM card, at present the UK networks reject such calls. Since November 2009, an emergency call can be made through any UK mobile network as long as there is a SIM for *any* valid UK network in the handset. More information about the 112 emergency number can be found at the 112 : The European emergency number web site.

The chargeable number 101 (10p per call) was introduced for non-urgent crime and community safety calls on a trial basis in 2006. In Wales, the scheme has been taken forward by all four police forces, who adopted the number for non-emergency calls on a permanent basis in early 2009. In England the scheme remains on trial, withdrawn from some original pilot areas but since further trialled in other locations.^[16]

The operator is obtained via 100, while directory enquiries, formerly 192, is now provided in the 118xxx range, e.g. 118 212, 118 800, 118 500, 118 118, by different companies. International Operator assistance is reached through "155".

From early 2010, the pan-European 116 number range comes into use for social helplines. The first three numbers likely to be issued are for Missing People who will use 116 000 for a missing children helpline, the NSPCC ChildLine on 116 111, and Samaritans who will use 116 123 for an emotional support helpline.

Fixed line telephone subscribers for BT,^[17]Virgin Media^[18] and TalkTalk have the opportunity to use an automated messaging service which takes messages when the called number is either engaged ("busy") or not answered within a given time. This can be accessed by calling 1571.

Since the mid 1990s speaking clock services have been available throughout Britain using the number 123. Before this, exchanges in "Director" areas (Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Manchester) dialled 846 (TIM) (later changing to 123) and main exchanges in "Non-Director" areas originally used "952", later changing to "80" with the introduction of STD and eventually to "8081" as other recorded services were introduced on 80X1 codes. Some mobile operators allocate other services to 123—such as customer services or voicemail etc.

The Post Office even produced dial centre labels for use in advertisements and film/TV with a mythical exchange called VINcent plus four digits. The numerical equivalent of VIN was 846 and all the caller got was the speaking clock in the big city "Director" areas.

Two telephone helplines within the regular code space have only eight digits, namely 0800 1111 for ChildLine and 0845 4647 for NHS Direct in England and Wales.

History

The telephone service in the United Kingdom was originally provided by private companies and local councils. But by 1912–13^[19] all except the telephone service of Kingston upon Hull and Guernsey had been bought out by the Post Office. The Post Office also operated telephone services in Jersey until 1923 and the Isle of Man until 1969 when the islands took over responsibility for their own postal and telephone services – although the Isle of Man system remained part of British Telecom until 1987.

Post Office Telecommunications was reorganised in 1980–81^[20] as British Telecommunications (British Telecom, or BT), and was the first major nationalised industry to be privatised by the Conservative government. The Hull Telephone Department was itself reconstituted as Kingston Communications, in 1987; it was sold by Hull City Council in the late 1990s and celebrated its centenary in 2004.

Director system

Main article: Director telephone system

In November 1922 the General Post Office decided to adopt the Strowger system from the various systems it had tried and it was to include "Directors" in the exchanges in London. Demonstration models of the "Director" exchange were shown by manufacturer ATM of Liverpool as part of the Post Office exhibits at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924 and 1925. However, it was not until 1927 that the first "Director" telephone exchange was brought into service in Holborn, London and rolled out progressively across Greater London. A 3 digit code, represented by letters, identified the local exchange. Director schemes were gradually introduced in the other major cities of the UK — Birmingham, Edinburgh (although a relatively small city, it obtained seven-figure dialling for political reasons), Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester.

Introduction of area codes

Main article: List of United Kingdom dialling codes

Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) was introduced in 1958^[21] to allow a caller to call another telephone directly instead of via a manual telephone exchange operator. Uniform exchange codes, usually called STD codes, were allocated for every exchange in the country, progressively as STD was rolled out. This process was not completed until 1979.^[22]

The original concept was for STD to be a nationwide Director system, and in common with the Director system, the exchange codes were originally assigned based on two letters of the respective place's name and the corresponding numbers on a telephone dial. For example Aylesbury was given the STD code 0AY6, where the letter A can be found on the number 2 and the letter Y on the number 9. The letter O became a zero, such as for Bournemouth: 0BO2 where BO = 20. Originally, where a place's name began with the letter "O" the code would begin with two zeros, such as Oxford: 0OX2 where OX = 09. These codes starting with "00" were later reallocated, freeing the prefix 00 for use by calls to the Republic of Ireland, to radiophones and to premium rate numbers.

Within a single code group area there would usually be multiple exchange buildings in various locations. The smaller exchanges might have only a few hundred lines with three-digit subscriber numbers, e.g. 200–499. Larger exchanges might have a few thousand lines with four-digit subscriber numbers, e.g. 2000–5999. The main exchange in the group would usually have five-digit subscriber numbers e.g. 20000–49999.

Population growth over the next few decades meant there was a need for more lines. This would see an exchange with existing three-digit numbers open one or more new ranges with four-digit local numbers (e.g. 5000-6999), and exchanges with existing four-digit numbers open one or more new ranges with five-digit local numbers (e.g. 60000–69999).

Since number ranges were being reused in each local exchange within a group, a series of short codes was devised to allow dialling from one local exchange to another without the need to dial the full STD code. These short codes usually began with a 7, 8 or 9. The code was often only two or three digits, but might be up to five digits long.^[23]

The last digit of this short code would usually also feature as extra digits on the end of the main STD code in order to differentiate each satellite exchange within a group when dialling from another STD code area. In written form these area codes were split after the third digit to highlight this satellite exchange numbering.^[24]

e.g. for 0799, Saffron Walden (SW)

(0799) xxxxx	Saffron Walden
(079 982) xxx and xxxx	Newport
(079 983) xxx and xxxx	Great Chesterford
(079 984) xxx	Ashdon
(079 985) xxx and xxxx	Clavering
(079 986) xxx	Great Sampford
(079 987) xxx	Radwinter
(079 988) xxx	Rickling

As time wore on and number shortages became more acute, local numbers were gradually converted to five-figure or six-figure numbers, and the STD code changed to the (0xxx) format. In many cases the initial digits of the new local number would be formed from digits previously at the end of the old STD code. The local number would be padded with extra fixed digits (if needed) to make up the new total length. In some cases the initial digits were changed e.g. Radwinter (079 987) 456 became Saffron Walden [phone], nowadays [phone].

Post 2000, only a dozen places have long STD codes with five-digit local numbers. One area with a long STD code retains four-digit local numbering. Long STD codes are rare. Many people are not familiar with the (0xx xx), nowadays (01xx xx) format; or the now discontinued (0xx xxx) format, and often omit the space in written form.

For the Director areas a 2 or 3 digit code was used for the city. These were:

Area code	City	Notes
01	London	Until 1990—See 01 for London below
021	Birmingham	(2 = B)
031	Edinburgh	(3 = E)
041	Glasgow	(4 = G)
051	Liverpool	(5 = L)
061	Manchester	(6 = M)

The codes 071, 081, and 091 were reserved for later expansion, with the former two eventually being temporarily allocated to London (see below).

All figure dialling

Main article: All figure dialling

The use of names was intended to provide a mnemonic for the exchange in the same way as for the Director system, but as more and more places were given STD codes the mnemonic link became more and more obscure, and this system became unworkable. Also, international direct dialling was being introduced and as other countries (such as the USA) had different assignments of letters to digits the opportunity for confusion existed.

An earlier modification to get round this problem for European dialling was the addition of the letter Q to the digit 0, which previously represented only the letter O. This was because some French exchanges had alphabetic codes including Q, but in the event France moved to all-digit codes before direct dialling from the UK was introduced.

The use of alphabetic exchange (area) codes was abandoned in the UK in 1966 in favour of all figure numbering. As such about 60% of current area codes are still based on the original alphabetic STD.

Around 1982, the 091 code was also brought into use:

Area code	City	Notes
091	Tyne and Wear and Durham	See article 0191 for migration details.

ELNS areas

In certain areas of the country, it was sometimes decided that one area code would cover multiple charge groups. These are the so-called ELNS areas (Extended Linked Numbering Scheme) where the leading digit of the local number indicates which charge group the number belongs to. A diagram showing the principle is shown on page 9 of Oftel's telephone numbering guide^[25] and these areas are shown in the table below.^[26]

Area code	Initial digits	Location name	Initial digits	Location name	Initial digits	Location name
0191	2,4,6,8	Tyneside	3,9	Durham	5,7	Sunderland
01229	2,4,5,6,8	Barrow-in-Furness	3,7,9	Millom
01339	2,3,5,8	Aboyne	4,6,7,9	Ballater
01388	3,4,6,7,8,9	Bishop Auckland	2,5	Stanhope
01423	3,4,9	Boroughbridge	2,5,6,7,8	Harrogate
01430	6,7,8,9	Market Weighton	2,3,4,5	North Cave
01434	2,4,9	Bellingham	3,5	Haltwhistle	6,7,8	Hexham
01437	2,3,4,5	Clynderwen	6,7,8,9	Haverfordwest
01507	4,8,9	Alford (Lincs)	3,6,7	Louth	2,5	Spilsby
01686	2,3,4,7	Llanidloes	5,6,8,9	Newtown
01847	2,3,4,5,8	Thurso	6,7,9	Tongue
01851	4,6,9	Great Bernera	2,3,5,7,8	Stornoway
01890	5,6,7,9	Ayton	2,3,4,8	Coldstream
01964	2,5,8,9	Hornsea	3,4,6,7	Patrington
01975	2,4,5,9	Alford (Aberdeen)	3,6,7,8	Strathdon
023	8	Southampton	9	Portsmouth

Calls to the Republic of Ireland

Until the late 1980s, calls to major towns and cities in the Republic of Ireland could also be made using short codes starting with 000:

0001—Dublin 01 area

0002—Cork 021 area

0004—Dundalk 042 area

0005—Waterford 051 area

0006—Limerick 061 area

0007—Letterkenny 074 area

0009—Galway 091 area

This was discontinued in the late 1980s, so that all calls to the Republic of Ireland from the UK had to be dialled in the normal international format using the international access code (initially 010 until 1995, and then 00) and country code (353).

Calls could also be made using the full international dialling code since the introduction of International Direct Dialling.

While most of the Republic of Ireland could be direct dialled, a small number of rural areas did not have an automated telephone service until the 1980s. As a result, calls from the UK to these areas had to be made through the BT operator who connected the calls to their Irish counterpart for completion. Unlike other international calls, these were handled by the BT national operator, in the same way as UK operator calls. This service was withdrawn at noon on 28 May 1987 when the last manual exchange in Ireland, at Mountshannon, County Clare, was switched over to an Alcatel E10 digital exchange. This completed Telecom Eireann's rural digitalisation project.

Although full international dialling is now used, calls from Northern Ireland landlines to landlines in the Republic are charged at UK national or local rates, and calls from Great Britain to the Republic are charged at a special "Republic of Ireland" rate, higher than inland rates, but lower than those for elsewhere in Western Europe. Additionally, calls to Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland can be made without an international access code, but instead replacing the British 028 prefix not with the conventional international prefix 00 44 28 but with a shorter Irish 048 area code which specifically covers Northern Ireland. For example, calling Belfast from London would be 028 90xx xxxx while calling Belfast from Dublin would be 048 90xx xxxx.

See also: Telephone numbers in the Republic of Ireland

Number shortage

With growth in second phone lines, direct dial-in (DDI) lines, fax machines and multiple telecoms operators during the 1980s the demand for telephone numbers exceeded the available number ranges. A number of changes were to be made to the UK numbering plan. All these stages were planned out in one exercise in the early 1980s, though the exact dates for each stage was decided later.

Splitting 01 for London into 071 and 081

The first major change was in May 1990, when the London 01 area code was replaced with 071 and 081. Local numbers remained seven digits long. Exchanges in central London used the 071 code. The remaining exchanges now used the 081 code and formed a ring around the 071 area.^[27] Although this effectively doubled the available numbers from eight to sixteen million, it was not to be the last change for the capital.

Area	New numbering	Old numbering
Inner London	071-xxx xxxx	01-xxx xxxx
Outer London	081-xxx xxxx	01-xxx xxxx

This change freed up the entire 01 code range for the next step of the plan: converting all geographic area codes to 01. That operation would then free up the whole of the 02 to 09 range for a future re-organisation of some geographic and all mobile and non-geographic numbers. Most areas would see two code changes over the next decade, whilst London would have a total of three. It would be a decade before this inner/outer London split was eventually nullified.

Consumers were already becoming confused as to what they would be charged for any particular call, with for example (0404) xxxxx being a call to Honiton in Devon and (0403) xxxxxx being a much more expensive call to a mobile phone. The situation in the early 1990s was as follows:

Number prefix	Example of geographic use	Non-geographic services using other prefixes in same 0x range
01	Not used	Freephone, local and premium rate services[28]
02	Aberdeen (0224)	Not used
03	Dover (0304)	Freephone; mobile; local, national and premium rate services
04	Gloucester (0452)	Mobile; national rate
05	Kinross (0577)	Freephone; mobile; national rate
06	Newbury (0635)	Local and premium rate services
07	Romford (0708)	Personal numbers
08	Tamworth (0827)	Freephone; mobile; local, national and premium rate services
09	York (0904)	Freephone; mobile; local, national and premium rate services

The next few changes would fix these problems.

PhONEday

Geographic numbers

On "PhONEday", 16 April 1995, the digit "1" was inserted into all UK geographic area codes. Promotion of this day included special Easter eggs. Under the new changes, for example, Inner London's 071 became 0171; Outer London's 081 became 0181. A small selection of the codes that changed are shown in the table below:

Area	New numbering	Old numbering
Ashford	(01233) xxxxxx	(0233) xxxxxx
Coventry	(01203) xxxxxx	(0203) xxxxxx
Birmingham	(0121) xxx xxxx	021-xxx xxxx
Cardiff	(01222) xxxxxx	(0222) xxxxxx
Edinburgh	(0131) xxx xxxx	031-xxx xxxx
Derby	(01332) xxxxxx	(0332) xxxxxx
Dundee	(01382) xxxxxx	(0382) xxxxxx
Evesham	(01386) xxxxxx	(0386) xxxxxx
Glasgow	(0141) xxx xxxx	041-xxx xxxx
Hull	(01482) xxxxxx	(0482) xxxxxx
Liverpool	(0151) xxx xxxx	051-xxx xxxx
Jersey	(01534) xxxxxx	(0534) xxxxxx
Luton	(01582) xxxxxx	(0582) xxxxxx
Manchester	(0161) xxx xxxx	061-xxx xxxx
Southampton	(01703) xxxxxx	(0703) xxxxxx
Inner London	(0171) xxx xxxx	071-xxx xxxx
Reading	(01734) xxxxxx	(0734) xxxxxx
Outer London	(0181) xxx xxxx	081-xxx xxxx
Tyne and Wear/County Durham	(0191) xxx xxxx	091-xxx xxxx

This was done with a view to reorganising the numbering plan at a later date, so that the first two digits would indicate the type of service called:

Area code prefix	Service type
00	International dialling
01	Geographic area codes
02	New geographic area codes
03	Originally reserved for new geographic area codes, but later used for non-geographic number ranges, charged at geographic rates.
04	Reserved
05	Corporate numbering
06	Formerly reserved for future personal numbering
07	Mobile phones, pagers and personal numbering
08	Freephone and shared cost / special rates
09	Premium rate

The international access code also changed on "PhONEday", from 010 to 00.

Five new area codes were introduced for cities that were running low on phone numbers—and a digit was prepended to each existing local number.

City	New numbering	Old numbering	Notes
Leeds	(0113) 2xx xxxx	(0532) xxxxxx	53 = LE
	(0113) 3xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 1997.
	(0113) 8xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 2006.
	(0113) 4xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 2010.
Sheffield	(0114) 2xx xxxx	(0742) xxxxxx	74 = SH
	(0114) 3xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 2004.
	(0114) 4xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 2009.
Nottingham	(0115) 9xx xxxx	(0602) xxxxxx	60 = NO
	(0115) 8xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 1997.
	(0115) 7xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 2006.
	(0115) 2xx xxxx		Small quantity issued late 2009 and early 2010.
Leicester	(0116) 2xx xxxx	(0533) xxxxxx	53 = LE
	(0116) 3xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 2004.
	(0116) 4xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 2009.
Bristol	(0117) 9xx xxxx	(0272) xxxxxx	27 = BR
	(0117) 2xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 2007.
	(0117) 3xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 1997.

Most of the initial local number ranges created by PhONEday were exhausted within just a few years. New local numbers then began to be allocated with a different initial digit. For example, in Sheffield (0114) when the 2xx xxxx numbers were exhausted, new numbers (other than old recycled ones) then began to be issued from the 3xx xxxx range. Similarly, newly allocated numbers in Leeds (0113), Leicester (0116) and Bristol (0117) also came from the 3xx xxxx range, but in Nottingham (0115), the new numbers instead came from the 8xx xxxx range.

Less than a decade later, further new ranges were opened in most of these areas, but this time new Reading and Leicester numbers are in the 4xx xxxx range, new Bristol numbers are in the 2xx xxxx range, new Nottingham numbers are in the 7xx xxxx range and new Leeds numbers are in the 4xx xxxx and 8xx xxxx ranges.^[29]

National dialling only numbers

City	New numbering	Old numbering	Notes
Leeds	0113 0ax xxxx	0532 0xxxxx	53 = LE
	0113 1ax xxxx	0532 1xxxxx
Sheffield	0114 0ax xxxx	0742 0xxxxx	74 = SH
	0114 1ax xxxx	0742 1xxxxx
Nottingham	0115 0ax xxxx	0602 0xxxxx	60 = NO
	0115 1ax xxxx	0602 1xxxxx
Leicester	0116 0ax xxxx	0533 0xxxxx	53 = LE
	0116 1ax xxxx	0533 1xxxxx
Bristol	0117 0ax xxxx	0272 0xxxxx	27 = BR
	0117 1ax xxxx	0272 1xxxxx

Changes between PhONEday and the Big Number Change

Geographic numbers

Area	New numbering	Old numbering[30]	Notes
Reading	(0118) 9xx xxxx	(0734) xxxxxx → (01734) xxxxxx	73 = RE; changed between 1996 and 1998, not on PhONEday[31]
	(0118) 3xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 1998.
	(0118) 4xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, issued from 2009.

Reading numbers endured two changes in a very short time. PhONEday, on 16 April 1995, changed the area code from 0734 to 01734, and then almost a year later, on 8 April 1996, it changed again to (0118). At that time, local numbers were changed from six to seven digits by inserting a 9 in front of the old local number. Parallel running of the old numbering was withdrawn on 9 January 1998.

Around this time, some new number ranges were already being allocated and used for mobile phone numbers. These new ranges already fitted into the new numbering scheme of 07xxx xxxxxx. The rest of the older mobile phone numbers, those already in use for many years (and at that time, both one-digit shorter, and having codes scattered throughout the 03 to 09 range) would be brought into this 07x numbering scheme a few years later, both by changing the code to the 07x range, and by adding an additional digit.

National dialling only numbers

Area	New numbering	Old numbering[30]	Notes
Reading	0118 0ax xxxx	01734 0xxxxx	73 = RE; changed between 1996 and 1998, not on PhONEday[31]
	0118 1ax xxxx	01734 1xxxxx

Big Number Change

Main article: Big Number Change

Geographic numbers

On 22 April 2000 the second phase of the plan came into operation, dubbed the "Big Number Change". With 02x area codes freed up by the previous reorganisation, they could be re-used. These areas had already had a code change (to insert a "1") five years earlier as a part of PhONEday. The Big Number Change altered the area codes again, as well as making the local number two digits longer (London: one digit longer).

Area	New numbering	Old numbering[30]	Notes
London	(020) 7xxx xxxx	0171-xxx xxxx	Used for existing inner London numbers and new numbers London-wide.
	(020) 8xxx xxxx	0181-xxx xxxx	Used for existing outer London numbers and new numbers London-wide.
	(020) 3xxx xxxx		New phase of numbers, released London-wide from June 2005.
Southampton	(023) 80xx xxxx	(01703) xxxxxx	70 = SO
	(023) 81xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, released from 2005.
Portsmouth	(023) 92xx xxxx	(01705) xxxxxx	70 = PO
	(023) 93xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, released from 2005.
Coventry	(024) 76xx xxxx	(01203) xxxxxx	20 = CO
	(024) 77xx xxxx		New phase of numbers, released from 2005.
Cardiff	(029) 20xx xxxx	(01222) xxxxxx	22 = CA
	(029) 21xx xxxx		New phase of numbers released from June 2005.
	(029) 22xx xxxx		New phase of numbers released from August 2010.
Northern Ireland Example given is Belfast—see below	(028) 90xx xxxx	(01232) xxxxxx	23 = BE
	(028) 95xx xxxx		New phase of numbers released from 2005.

Note that although Southampton and Portsmouth are one code from a code structure and local dialling point of view, as of January 2006 calls between them are not local calls and the "codes" (023) 8xxx and (023) 9xxx are treated as separate by the BT site for determining local call area.

It is planned that the new codes will eventually cover a larger area than at present. For example, although (029) currently covers just the Cardiff area, it may in the future cover all of Wales.^[32]

The code for Northern Ireland is (028). The transition codes for Northern Ireland are shown below. These can be accessed from the Republic of Ireland using either the domestic code 048, or the international prefix 00 44 28.

The prefixes for existing numbers in Northern Ireland are split up into seven groups, roughly based upon the county in which the main exchange is based. The initial digit of each phone number is based on the designated county—for example, the first county alphabetically is County Antrim so numbers in this county start with 2. The next county is County Armagh so numbers here start with 3. One exception to this is the Greater Belfast area, initial digit 9, which is extended to include each adjacent former STD code area, including the towns of Bangor, (County Down) (91), Lisburn (92), Carrickfergus (93), Antrim (94) and Saintfield (97). The encompassed former STD codes at some points extend to over 20 miles from Belfast itself. There is a much more complete list in the Big Number Change article.

Town/city	Region	New numbering	Old numbering[30]
Larne	County Antrim	(028) 28xx xxxx	(01574) xxxxxx
Armagh	County Armagh	(028) 37xx xxxx	(01861) xxxxxx
Newcastle	County Down	(028) 437x xxxx	(013967) xxxxx
Enniskillen	County Fermanagh	(028) 66xx xxxx	(01365) xxxxxx
Limavady	County Londonderry	(028) 777x xxxx	(015047) xxxxx
Omagh	County Tyrone	(028) 82xx xxxx	(01662) xxxxxx
Belfast	Greater Belfast	(028) 90xx xxxx	(01232) xxxxxx
Lisburn	Greater Belfast	(028) 92xx xxxx	(01846) xxxxxx

National dialling only numbers

Area	New numbering	Old numbering[30]	Notes
London	020 01xx xxxx	0171-0xx xxxx	A non-trivial relationship maps the old blocks of numbers to the new number blocks.[33]
	020 11xx xxxx	0171-1xx xxxx
	020 00xx xxxx	0181-0xx xxxx
	020 10xx xxxx	0181-1xx xxxx
Southampton	023 110x xxxx	01703 0xxxxx	70 = SO
	023 111x xxxx	01703 1xxxxx
Portsmouth	023 100x xxxx	01705 0xxxxx	70 = PO
	023 101x xxxx	01705 1xxxxx
Coventry	024 100x xxxx	01203 0xxxxx	20 = CO
	024 101x xxxx	01203 1xxxxx
Cardiff	029 100x xxxx	01222 0xxxxx	22 = CA
	029 101x xxxx	01222 1xxxxx

Non-geographic, and mobile and pager numbers

In addition, mobile and pager numbers were all moved into the 07xxx range. Pagers moved into 076xx, while personal numbers moved to 070. Mobile phone numbers moved into the 077xx, 078xx and 079xx ranges (and more recently, 075xx and 074xx have also been brought into use).

The exception to this was Manx Telecom mobile phone numbers, where the code became 07624 in order to match the 01624 used for landlines.

In addition, lower and higher rate non-geographic numbers (previously called lo-call or local-rate and national-rate numbers, though these terms are no longer recommended to be used as they can be misleading [1] [2]) migrated to 08xx and premium rate numbers migrated to 09xx.

A summary of the migration path for the existing mobile and pager codes, as they were at the time, is shown below:

Mobile phone numbers		Pager numbers
Code before migration	Code after migration	Code before migration	Code after migration
03ABC	077AB	01ABC	076BC
04ABC	077AB	04ABC	076BC
05ABC	078AB	09AB	076AB
08ABC	078AB
09ABC	079AB

020 for London

Main article: 020

The number change meant that London returned to a single area code again (as in the old 01 days), with no "inner/outer" split. Existing London numbers acquired the prefixes 7 or 8, but from that point on (020) 7xxx xxxx and (020) 8xxx xxxx numbers were assigned or reused anywhere in the London area covered by the single (city-wide) 020 code.

From June 2005 the regulator, Ofcom, ceased to allocate new number blocks to suppliers in the 7xxx xxxx and 8xxx xxxx ranges. From this date onwards all number allocations were in the 3xxx xxxx range and can be used anywhere in the London 020 area. Although new blocks of 7xxx xxxx and 8xxx xxxx range numbers are no longer being allocated to suppliers, those that have not yet exhausted their existing blocks are able to continue to issue and re-issue them to their customers.

Numbers in the 020 0xxx xxxx and 020 1xxx xxxx number ranges have also been made available. However, these numbers cannot be dialled without the 020 code and are called "national dialling only" numbers. A small number of these blocks are used by numbers migrated from old 0171-0xx xxxx, 0171-1xx xxxx, 0181-0xx xxxx, and 0181-1xx xxxx "national dialling only" numbers. They are mainly used as termination points for non-geographic numbers, and for various alarm and other automated systems where the actual telephone number itself is never called.

It is a common misconception that London still has more than one area code (i.e. "0207" and "0208").^[34] This is incorrect in the sense that omitting the "0207" or "0208" (area) code will give a local number that cannot be connected as it is missing the first digit. Therefore, writing a London number as 020x xxx xxxx is incorrect and can lead to confusion when attempting to dial it.^[35]

Misconceptions

Main article: UK telephone code misconceptions

The misconception of area code and number separation is also seen in other areas of the country where the area code length was reduced in the Big Number Change such as Coventry being written as 02476 xxxxxx, whereas the correct number sequence is (024) 76xx xxxx (Coventry now has some (024) 77xx xxxx numbers) and Cardiff being written as 02920 xxxxxx whereas the correct number sequence is (029) 20xx xxxx (Cardiff now has some (029) 21xx xxxx numbers).

Likewise in Portsmouth, numbers are being incorrectly written as 02392 xxxxxx, whereas the correct number sequence is (023) 92xx xxxx (Portsmouth now has some (023) 93xx xxxx numbers).^[36]

This also occurs in some areas of Northern Ireland, that previously had 5-digit and 6-digit local numbers like in Banbridge (previously (018206) xxxxx), where numbers are still erroneously written as 028406 xxxxx instead of (028) 406x xxxx. Locals still misquote the area code as 028406, seven years after the change. The same occurs in formerly six-digit code areas, such as Lisburn (previous (01846) xxxxxx) continues to frequently appear as 02892 xxxxxx instead of the correct form (028) 92xx xxxx.

This is also seen in the earlier PhONEday areas, such as in Sheffield, for (0114) 2xx xxxx numbers, where these are often seen written as 01142 xxxxxx or are missing the leading digit 2 when abbreviated (751234 instead of 275 1234 for example).^[37] This is a particular problem now that (0114) 3xx xxxx local numbers are being issued.^[38]

It also affects Reading numbers where these are still being written as 01189 xxxxxx, whereas the correct number sequence is (0118) 9xx xxxx. Now that Reading has some (0118) 3xx xxxx and (0118) 4xx xxxx numbers mis-dialling also occurs when people prefix 3xx xxxx and 4xx xxxx numbers with 01189 instead of just 0118.^[39]

In all of these areas, the result of the confusion is that callers are adding an incorrect area code to numbers allocated within the new local number ranges, and that then results in a mis-dialled call.

2003 area name changes

In 2003, Oftel published a proposal^[40] to create a National Telephone Numbering Plan. This draft plan proposed changing the names of many areas from whatever name BT had previously used. Following responses from BT,^[41] C&W^[42] and others, the final plan was published with a number of amendments incorporated,^[43] followed by a minor revision a few weeks later.^[44] A few months later, the data and the responsibility for maintaining it was passed to Ofcom.

Ofcom's data is contained in two files: the NTNP PDF file^[45] (updated several times per year) and the SABC CSV file^[46] for electronic download (published weekly). Although the data in these files should be identical, there have been and still are very many differences between them.

In one background document^[47] from 2004, Ofcom states that In order to conform to the National Telephone Numbering Plan (NTNP), the names of the following Geographic Area Codes have changed - 1248, 1268, 1275, 1276, 1291, 1293, 1306, 1322, 1327, 1334, 1344, 1354, 1356, 1375, 1384, 1394, 1425, 1438, 1442, 1451, 1454, 1461, 1470, 1471, 1477, 1478, 1485, 1488, 1489, 1491, 1543, 1561, 1562, 1582, 1588, 1598, 1661, 1668, 1675, 1680, 1681, 1684, 1688, 1689, 1695, 1707, 1720, 1727, 1737, 1744, 1753, 1770, 1784, 1806, 1821, 1856, 1870, 1877, 1883, 1885, 1889, 1895, 1908, 1920, 1922, 1926, 1928, 1932, 1952, 1953, 1963, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1992.

However, several of the above area codes did not see any name change. It had been proposed to change some names but in the end either the original BT name continued to be used or a completely new name suggested by either BT or C&W, or by both, was adopted. The Ofcom proposal^[40] also contained a large number of spelling mistakes in the proposed area code names. Some of those errors were rectified within weeks or months, while others have still not been fixed eight years later. Additionally, several other areas changed their name after suggestions by BT and/or C&W, although Ofcom originally had no plans to change them. There are also several areas which changed name but are not listed above. Additionally some names were changed in one Ofcom document but were not updated in the other Ofcom document until several years later. Some have still not been updated or corrected.

The proposed and actual changes, along with the list of implementation errors, are detailed below.

Code	SABC March 2003[48]	Oftel 2003 Proposal[40]	BT 2003 comments[41]	C&W 2003 comments[42]	NTNP edits 2003 onwards[45]	SABC edits 2003 onwards[46]	Status 2011
117	Bristol (Inner - See also 1275)	Bristol	No comment.	No comment.	Bristol	Bristol	OK
1229 0,1	Barrow-in-Furness / Millom	Barrow-in-Furness / Millom	No comment.	No comment.	Barrow-in-Furness / Millom (7) then changed to Barrow-in-Furness (2,4,5,6,8) / Millom (3,7,9) in 2005.	Barrow-in-Furness National Dialling (2003- ). Should be Barrow-in-Furness/Millom National Dialling.	NTNP OK. Error in SABC. Should be Barrow-in-Furness/Millom National Dialling.
1233	Ashford	Ashford	No comment.	Could cause confusion. Suggest Ashford (Kent).	Ashford (Kent)	Ashford (2003- ). Should be Ashford (Kent).	NTNP OK. Error in SABC. Should be Ashford (Kent).
1248	Bangor (N Wales)	Bangor	Suggest using Bangor (Wales).	Clashes with 28 91. Suggest Bangor (Wales).	Bangor (Gwynedd)	Bangor (Gwynedd)	OK
1260	Congleton (See also 1477)	Congleton	No comment.	No comment.	Congleton	Congleton	OK
1268	Stanford-le-Hope [See also 1375]	Canvey Island	Suggest using Basildon.	Consider using Basildon.	Basildon	Basildon	OK (using BT and C&W suggested name).
1271	Barnstable[sic]	Barnstable[sic]	No comment.	No comment.	Barnstable (2003- ). Should be Barnstaple.	Barnstable (2003–2010) then corrected to Barnstaple in 2010.	Error in NTNP. SABC now OK. Should be Barnstaple.
1275	Bristol (Outer - See also 117)	Clevedon	Clevedon. No comment.	Clevedon. Agree.	Clevedon	Clevedon	OK
1276	Ascot (See also 1344)	Camberley	Camberley. No comment.	Camberley. Agree.	Camberley	Camberley	OK
1284	Bury-St-Edmunds[sic]	Bury-St-Edmunds[sic]	No comment.	No comment.	Bury-St-Edmunds (2003- ). Should be Bury St Edmunds.	Bury-St-Edmunds (2003–2010) then corrected to Bury St Edmunds in 2010.	Error in NTNP. SABC now OK. Should be Bury St Edmunds.
1286	Caernarvon[sic]	Caernarvon[sic]	No comment.	No comment.	Caernarvon (2003- ). Should be Caernarfon.	Caernarvon (2003–2010) then corrected to Caernarfon in 2010.	Error in NTNP. SABC now OK. Should be Caernarfon.
1289	Berwick-on-Tweed[sic]	Berwick-on-Tweed[sic]	No comment.	No comment.	Berwick-on-Tweed (2003- ). Should be Berwick-upon-Tweed.	Berwick-on-Tweed (2003–2010) then corrected to Berwick-upon-Tweed in 2010.	Error in NTNP. SABC now OK. Should be Berwick-upon-Tweed.
1291	Shirenewton	Chepstow	Chepstow. No comment.	Chepstow. Agree.	Chepstow	Chepstow	OK
1293	Newdigate (See also 1306)	Crawley	Crawley. No comment.	Crawley. Agree.	Crawley	Crawley	OK
1294	Ardrossan	Ardrossan	Ardrossan. No comment.	Consider using Irvine.	Ardrossan	Ardrossan	OK
1306	Newdigate (See also 1293)	Dorking	Dorking. No comment.	Dorking. Agree.	Dorking	Dorking	OK
1322	Swanley (See also 1959 & 1689)	Dartford	Dartford. No comment.	Dartford. Agree.	Dartford	Dartford	OK
1327	Weedon	Daventry	Daventry. No comment.	Daventry. Agree.	Daventry	Daventry	OK
1329	Fareham (See also 1489)	Fareham	No comment.	No comment.	Fareham	Fareham	OK
1333	Peat Inn (See also 1334)	Peat Inn	Peat Inn. No comment.	Peat Inn. Agree.	Peat Inn (2003- )	Peat Inn (2003- )	Leven (Fife) would be a better name for 1333. Peat Inn is in 1334.
1334	Peat Inn [See also 1333]	St Andrews	St Andrews. No comment.	St Andrews. Agree.	St Andrews (2003- )	St Andrews (2003- )	In renaming 1334 Ofcom renamed the wrong area.
1340	Craigellachie	Craigellachie	No comment.	No comment.	Craigellachie	Craigellachie	OK (Aberlour may be a better name, no exchange in Craigellachie).
1344	Ascot (See also 1276)	Bracknell	Bracknell. No comment.	Bracknell. Agree.	Bracknell	Bracknell	OK
1354	Doddington	Chatteris	Chatteris. No comment.	Chatteris. Agree.	Chatteris	Chatteris	OK
1355	East Kilbride (See also 1357)	Kilbride	Consider East Kilbride for both.	Suggest using East Kilbride.	East Kilbride	East Kilbride	OK
1356	Brechin	Brechin	No comment.	No comment.	Brechin	Brechin	OK (Listed by Ofcom as changing name in 2003 but name not actually changed).
1357	East Kilbride (See also 1355)	East Kilbride	Consider East Kilbride for both.	Suggest using Strathaven.	Strathaven	Strathaven	OK (using C&W suggested name).
1375	Stanford-le-Hope [See also 1268]	Stanford-le-Hope	Suggest using Grays Thurrock instead of Stanford Le Hope[sic].	Suggest using Grays Thurrock.	Grays Thurrock	Grays Thurrock	OK (using BT and C&W suggested name).
1384	Stourbridge (See also 1562)	Dudley	Dudley. No comment.	Dudley. Agree.	Dudley	Stourbridge (2003–2007) then corrected to Dudley in 2007.	NTNP OK. SABC now OK.
1388 5	Stanhope (5) and Bishop Auckland	Stanhope (4) and Bishop Auckland	01388 contains two separate charge groups: 01388 and 01388 5. Stanhope sub-reference needs correcting: (5) not (4).	No comment.	Stanhope (5)	1388 5 Stanhope	OK (The Stanhope exchange is located in Eastgate).
1394	Shottisham	Felixstowe	Felixstowe. No comment.	Felixstowe. Agree.	Felixstowe	Felixstowe	OK
1425	Burley	Ringwood	Ringwood. No comment.	Ringwood. Agree.	Ringwood	Ringwood	OK
1437 2,3,4,5	Clynderwen	Clynderwen	No comment.	No comment.	Clynderwen	Clynderwen	OK (The correct Welsh spelling is Clunderwen).
1438	Knebworth (See also 1920)	Knebworth	Suggest using Stevenage.	Suggest using Stevenage.	Stevenage	Stevenage	OK (using BT and C&W suggested name).
1442	Markyate (See also 1582)	Hemel Hempstead	Hemel Hempstead. No comment.	Hemel Hempstead. Agree.	Hemel Hempstead	Hemel Hempstead	OK
1451	Bourton-on-the-Water	Stow-on-the-Wold	Stow-on-the-Wold. No comment.	Stow-on-the-Wold. Agree.	Stow-on-the-Wold	Stow-on-the-Wold	OK
1454	Rangeworthy	Chipping Sodbury	Chipping Sodbury. No comment.	Chipping Sodbury. Agree.	Chipping Sodbury	Chipping Sodbury	OK
1461	Annan	Gretna	Gretna. No comment.	Gretna. Agree.	Gretna	Gretna	OK
1470	Edinbane	Isle of Skye - Edinbane	Isle of Skye - Edinbane. No comment.	Isle of Skye - Edinbane. Agree.	Isle of Skye - Edinbane	Isle of Skye - Edinbane	OK
1471	Broadford	Isle of Skye - Broadford	Isle of Skye - Broadford. No comment.	Isle of Skye - Broadford. Agree.	Isle of Skye - Broadford	Isle of Skye - Broadford	OK
1477	Congleton (See also 1260)	Holmes Chapel	Holmes Chapel. No comment.	Holmes Chapel. Agree.	Holmes Chapel	Holmes Chappel (2003–2007) then corrected to Holmes Chapel in 2007.	NTNP OK. SABC now OK.
1478	Portree	Isle of Skye - Portree	Isle of Skye - Portree. No comment.	Isle of Skye - Portree. Agree.	Isle of Skye - Portree	Isle of Skye - Portree	OK
1482	Hull	Hull	No comment.	No comment.	Hull	Hull	Kingston-upon-Hull would be a better name.
1485	Docking	Hunstanton	Hunstanton. No comment.	Hunstanton. Agree.	Hunstanton	Hunstanton	OK
1488	Great Shefford	Hungerford	Hungerford. No comment.	Hungerford. Agree.	Hungerford	Hungerford	OK
1489	Fareham (See also 1329)	Bishops Waltham	Bishops Waltham. No comment.	Bishops Waltham. Agree.	Bishops Waltham	Bishops Waltham	OK
1491	Nettlebed	Henley-on-Thames	Henley-on-Thames. No comment.	Henley-on-Thames. Agree.	Henley-on-Thames	Henley on Thames (2003–2010) then corrected to Henley-on-Thames in 2010.	NTNP OK. SABC now OK.
1507 4	Alford (Lincs)	Alford	No comment.	Clashes with 1975. Suggest Alford (Lincs).	Alford (Lincolnshire) (2003) then corrected to Alford (Lincs) later in 2003.	Alford (Lincs)	NTNP now OK. SABC OK.
1507 5	Spilsby	Spilsby	01507 - contains two rather than three charge groups. 01507 5, like the rest of the range bar Alford, is Louth, and not Spilsby - Spilsby is 01790. The reference to Spilsby should be deleted.	No comment.	Spilsby removed (2003–2005) then added again in 2005.	Spilsby (2003- )	Horncastle would be a better name for 1507 2 and 1507 5. Spilsby is 1790.
15395	Grange over Sands[sic]	Grange-Over-Sands[sic]	No comment.	Grange-over-sands. No comment.	Grange-Over-Sands (2003- ). Should be Grange-over-Sands.	Grange over Sands (2003–2010) then corrected to Grange-over-Sands in 2010.	Error in NTNP. SABC now OK. Should be Grange-over-Sands.
1543	Burntwood	Cannock	Cannock. No comment.	Cannock. Agree.	Cannock	Cannock	OK
1559	Llandyssul[sic]	Llandyssul[sic]	No comment.	No comment.	Llandyssul (2003- ). Should be Llandysul.	Llandyssul (2003–2010) then corrected to Llandysul in 2010.	Error in NTNP. SABC now OK. Should be Llandysul.
1561	Fordoun	Laurencekirk	Laurencekirk. No comment.	Laurencekirk. Agree.	Laurencekirk	Laurencekirk	OK
1562	Stourbridge (See also 1384)	Stourbridge	Stourbridge. No comment.	Consider using Kidderminster.	Kidderminster	Kidderminster	OK (using C&W suggested name).
1582	Markyate (See also 1442)	Luton	Luton. No comment.	Luton. Agree.	Luton	Luton	OK
1588	Craven Arms	Bishops Castle	Bishops Castle. No comment.	Bishops Castle. Agree.	Bishops Castle	Bishops Castle	OK
1594	Lydney	Lydney	Lydney. No comment.	Consider using Dean.	Lydney	Lydney	OK
1598	Brayford	Lynton	Lynton. No comment.	Consider using Barnstable[sic] [Bad idea].	Lynton	Lynton	OK
1603	Norwich_	Norwich	No comment.	No comment.	Norwich	Norwich_ (2000- ). Should be Norwich.	NTNP OK. Trailing space in SABC still not removed after more than a decade!
1636	Newark	Newark	No comment.	No comment.	Newark	Newark	Newark-on-Trent would be a better name.
1637	Newquay [See also 1841]	Newquay	No comment.	No comment.	Newquay	Newquay	OK
1661	Wylam	Prudhoe	Prudhoe. No comment.	Prudhoe. Agree.	Prudhoe	Prudhoe	OK
1668	Belford	Bamburgh	Bamburgh. No comment.	Consider using Wooler.	Bamburgh	Bamburgh	OK
1675	Meriden (See also 1676)	Coleshill	Coleshill. No comment.	Coleshill. Agree.	Coleshill	Coleshill	OK
1676	Meriden (See also 1675)	Meriden	Meriden. No comment.	Meriden. Agree.	Meriden	Meriden	OK
1680	Craignure	Isle of Mull - Craignure	Isle of Mull - Craignure. No comment.	Isle of Mull - Craignure. Agree.	Isle of Mull - Craignure	Isle of Mull - Craignure	OK
1681	Fionnphort	Isle of Mull - Fionnphort	Isle of Mull - Fionnphort. No comment.	Isle of Mull - Fionnphort. Agree.	Isle of Mull - Fionnphort	Isle of Mull - Fionnphort	OK
1684	Hanley Swan	Hanley Swan	Suggest using Tewkesbury.	Suggest using Malvern.	Malvern	Malvern	OK (using C&W suggested name).
1686 4	Llanidloes	Llandiloes[sic]	No comment.	Spelling error. Use Llanidloes.	Llanidloes	Llanidloes	OK. Spelling error fixed in 2003.
1688	Tobermory	Isle of Mull - Tobermory	Isle of Mull - Tobermory. No comment.	Isle of Mull - Tobermory. Agree.	Isle of Mull - Tobermory	Isle of Mull - Tobermory	OK
1689	Swanley (See also 1322 & 1959)	Orpington	Orpington. No comment.	Orpington. Agree.	Orpington	Orpington	OK
1695	Skelmersdale (Rainford) [See also 1744]	Skelmersdale	Skelmersdale. No comment.	Skelmersdale. Agree.	Skelmersdale	Skelmersdale	OK
1697	Brampton	Brampton	Brampton should be 016977, not 01697.	No comment.	Correctly listed as 016977 (2003–2004) then incorrect 01697 (2005- ).	Correctly listed as 16977 (2001–2002) then incorrect 1697 (2003- ).	16977 is a five-digit area code.
1707	Colney Heath (See also 1727)	Welwyn Garden City	Suggest using Potters Bar.	Consider using Potters Bar.	Welwyn Garden City	Welwyn Garden City	OK (BT and C&W suggested Potters Bar).
1720	Scillonia	Isles of Scilly	Isles of Scilly. No comment.	Isles of Scilly. Agree.	Isles of Scilly	Isles of Scilly	OK
1727	Colney Heath (See also 1707)	St Albans	St Albans. No comment.	St Albans. Agree.	St Albans	St Albans	OK
1737	Merstham (See also 1883)	Redhill	Redhill. No comment.	Redhill. Agree.	Redhill	Redhill	OK
1744	Rainford (See also 1695)	St Helens	St Helens. No comment.	St Helens. Agree.	St Helens	St Helens	OK
1753	Iver (See also 1895 & 1784)	Slough	Slough. No comment.	Slough. Agree.	Slough	Slough	OK
1770	Brodick	Isle of Arran	Isle of Arran. No comment.	Isle of Arran. Agree.	Isle of Arran	Isle of Arran	OK
1784	Iver (See also 1895 & 1753)	Staines	Staines. No comment.	Staines. Agree.	Staines	Staines	OK
1790	Spilsby (See also 1507)	Spilsby	Spilsby. No comment.	Spilsby. Agree.	Spilsby	Spilsby	OK
1806	Voe	Shetland	Shetland. No comment.	Shetland. Agree.	Shetland	Shetland	OK
1807	Ballindalloch	Ballindalloch	No comment.	No comment.	Ballindalloch	Ballindalloch	OK
1821	Coupar Angus (See also 1828)	Kinross	Consider using Kinrossie or Errol. Kinross is 01577 and many miles away.	Kinross[sic]. Agree [See BT comments].	Kinrossie	Kinrossie	OK (using BT suggested name).
1828	Coupar Angus (See also 1821)	Coupar Angus	Coupar Angus. No comment.	Coupar Angus. Agree.	Coupar Angus	Coupar Angus	OK
1832	Clopton	Clopton	Clopton. No comment.	Suggest using Oundle.	Clopton	Clopton	OK
1841	Newquay [See also 1637]	Newquay	No comment.	Consider using Padstow.	Newquay (2003- )	Newquay (2003- )	Clashes with 1637. C&W suggested Padstow in 2003.
1843	Thanet	Thanet	No comment.	No comment.	Thanet	Thanet	OK (Thanet is a region not a town).
1847	Thurso / Tongue	Thurso / Tongue	01847 would be better shown in the same way as 01339. Use 01847 Thurso (8) and Tongue (6) as these are non-adjacent charge groups.	No comment.	Thurso [5,8] / Tongue (6) (2003–2005) then changed to Thurso (2,3,4,5,8) / Tongue (6,7,9) in 2005.	Thurso (8) / Tongue (6) (2002) then Thurso (5,8) / Tongue (6) (2003) then Thurso (2,3,4,5,8) / Tongue (6,7,9) 2004 onwards.	OK
1851 7,8	Stornoway	Stornaway[sic]	No comment.	Spelling error. Use Stornoway.	Stornoway	Stornoway	OK. Spelling error fixed in 2003.
1856	Kirkwall	Orkney	Orkney. No comment.	Orkney. Agree.	Orkney	Orkney	OK
1864	Abington	Abington	No comment.	No comment.	Abington	Abington	OK (The Abington exchange is located in Crawford).
1870	Benbecula	Isle of Benbecula	Isle of Benbecula. No comment.	Isle of Benbecula. Agree.	Isle of Benbecula	Isle of Benbecula	OK
1877	Trossachs	Callandar[sic]	No comment.	Callandar[sic]. Agree.	Callandar (2003- ). Should be Callander.	Callander	Error in NTNP. SABC OK. Should be Callander.
1878	Lohboisdale[sic]	Lochboisdale	Lochboisdale. No comment.	Lochboisdale. Agree.	Lochboisdale	Lohboisdale (2003–2005) then corrected to Lochboisdale in 2005.	NTNP OK. SABC now OK.
1883	Merstham (See also 1737)	Caterham	Caterham. No comment.	Caterham. Agree.	Caterham	Caterham	OK
1885	Bromyard (See also 1886)	Pencombe	No comment.	Suggest using Bromyard.	Pencombe (2003- )	Pencombe (2003- )	In renaming 1885 Ofcom renamed the wrong area.
1886	Bromyard (See also 1885)	Bromyard	No comment.	Suggest using Leigh Sinton.	Bromyard (2003- )	Bromyard (2003- )	Knightwick or Leigh Sinton would be a better name for 1886. Bromyard businesses use 1885.
1889	Dapple Heath	Rugely[sic]	No comment.	Rugely[sic]. Agree.	Rugely (2003- ). Should be Rugeley.	Rugeley	Error in NTNP. SABC OK. Should be Rugeley.
1890 6	n/a	n/a	No comment.	No comment.	Ayton (7) (2003–2004) then changed to Ayton (5,6,7,9) in 2005.	Coldstream (2003–2005) then corrected to Ayton in 2005.	NTNP OK. SABC now OK.
1895	Iver (See also 1753 & 1784)	Uxbridge	Uxbridge. No comment.	Uxbridge Agree.	Uxbridge	Uxbridge	OK
1902	Wolverhampton (See also 1922)	Wolverhampton	No comment.	No comment.	Wolverhampton	Wolverhampton	OK
1908	Wolverton	Milton Keynes	Milton Keynes. No comment.	Milton Keynes. Agree.	Milton Keynes	Milton Keynes	OK
191 2,4,6,8	Tyneside	Tyneside	No comment.	No comment.	Tyneside	Tyneside	Newcastle-upon-Tyne would be a better name.
191 5	Wearside	Sunderland	Sunderland. No comment.	Sunderland. Agree.	Sunderland	Wearside (2003–2007) then corrected to Sunderland in 2007.	NTNP OK. SABC now OK.
1920	Knebworth (See also 1438)	Ware	Ware. No comment.	Ware. No comment.	Ware	Ware	OK
1922	Wolverhampton (See also 1902)	Walsall	Walsall. No comment.	Walsall. No comment.	Walsall	Walsall	OK
1926	Leamington Spa	Warwick	Warwick. No comment.	Suggest Leamington Spa.	Warwick	Warwick	OK
1928	Frodsham	Runcorn	No comment.	Runcorn. Agree.	Runcorn	Runcorn	OK
1931	Shap	Bampton	Suggest continuing to use Shap.	Suggest Shap.	Shap	Shap	OK (using BT and C&W suggested name).
1932	Esher (See also 1372)	Esher	No comment.	Clashes with 1372. Suggest Weybridge.	Weybridge	Weybridge	OK (using C&W suggested name).
1934	Weston-Super-Mare[sic]	Weston-Super-Mare[sic]	No comment.	No comment.	Weston-Super-Mare (2003- ). Should be Weston-super-Mare.	Weston-Super-Mare (2003- ). Should be Weston-super-Mare.	Error in NTNP. Error in SABC. Should be Weston-super-Mare.
19467	Gosforth (Mixed)	Gosforth	No comment.	Gosforth. Agree.	Gosforth	Gosforth (Mixed) (2003- ). Should be Gosforth.	NTNP OK. Error in SABC. Should be Gosforth.
1952	Wellington	Telford	Telford. No comment.	Telford. No comment.	Telford	Telford	OK
1953	Attleborough	Wymondham	Wymondham. No comment.	Wymondham. No comment.	Wymondham	Wymondham	OK
1959	Swanley (See also 1322 & 1689)	Westerham	Westerham. No comment.	Consider Swanley or Biggin Hill.	Westerham	Swanley (2003–2007) then corrected to Westerham in 2007.	NTNP OK. SABC now OK.
1963	Templecombe	Wincanton	Wincanton. No comment.	Wincanton. Agree.	Wincanton	Wincanton	OK
1975 5	Alford (Aberdeen)	Alford	No comment.	Clashes with 1507. Suggest Alford (Scotland).	Alford (Aberdeenshire) (2003–2005) then corrected to Alford (Aberdeen) in 2005.	Alford (Aberdeen)	NTNP now OK. SABC OK.
1980	Bulford Camp	Amesbury	Amesbury. No comment.	Amesbury. Agree.	Amesbury	Amesbury	OK
1983	Ryde	Isle of Wight	Isle of Wight. No comment.	Isle of Wight. Agree.	Isle of Wight	Isle of Wight	OK
1984	Stogumber	Watchet	Watchet. No comment.	Watchet. Agree.	Watchet	Watchet	OK (The Watchet exchange is located in Williton).
1992	Hoddesdon	Lea Valley	Suggest continuing to use Hoddesden.	Consider Waltham Cross.	Lea Valley	Lea Valley	OK (BT and C&W each suggested a different name).
1994	St Clears	Whitland	Suggest continuing to use St Clears.	Suggest using St Clears.	St Clears	St Clears	OK (using BT and C&W suggested name).
28 10,11	Nothern[sic] Ireland National Dialling	n/a	No comment.	No comment.	n/a	Nothern Ireland National Dialling (2003–2010) then corrected to Northern Ireland National Dialling in 2010.	SABC now OK.
28 40	Banbridge	Bambridge[sic]	Spelling error. Use Banbridge.	Spelling error. Use Banbridge.	Banbridge	Banbridge	OK. Spelling error fixed in 2003.
28 43	Newcastle	Newcastle	No comment.	Could cause confusion. Suggest Newcastle (Co Down).	Newcastle (Co. Down)	Newcastle (2003–2010) then corrected to Newcastle (Co. Down) in 2010.	NTNP OK. SABC now OK (using BT suggested name).
28 66	Enniskillen	Enniskilen[sic]	Spelling error. Use Enniskillen.	Spelling error. Use Enniskillen.	Enniskillen	Enniskillen	OK. Spelling error fixed in 2003.
28 81	Newtownstewart	Newtonstewart[sic]	Spelling error. Use Newtownstewart.	Spelling error. Use Newtownstewart.	Newtownstewart	Newtownstewart	OK. Spelling error fixed in 2003.
28 90	Belfast City	Belfast	Belfast. No comment.	Belfast. Agree.	Belfast	Belfast City (2003- ). Should be Belfast.	NTNP OK. Error in SABC. Should be Belfast.
28 91	Bangor	Bangor	No comment.	Clashes with 1248. Suggest Bangor (Co Down).	Bangor (Co. Down)	Bangor (2003–2010) then corrected to Bangor (Co. Down) in 2010.	NTNP OK. SABC now OK.

2008 new area code

In 2008 a new area code was created for Ebbsfleet. Adjacent area codes no longer had enough projected spare capacity for the new development to use, so 01987 was allocated.^[49]

"08" Consumer Protection

Under plans, rates charged to people calling an 08 telephone number would be made clearer by linking the cost of the call to the third digit. Numbers starting 080 would be free (except from mobile phones), while 082 would be cheaper than 089.

Reform of 070 personal numbering

Ofcom had considered that personal numbers should migrate to 06, to replace the 070 prefix that is sometimes confused with mobile phone numbers.^{[citation needed]} There is no cap on retail caller charges. Ofcom wanted 070 and 06 numbers to have a price cap, and 07 numbers to be used exclusively for mobile phones. Companies such as Hospedia (formerly Patientline) use 070 personal numbers. After an in-depth study to better understand the market, Ofcom has changed its mind and is now proposing to drop the 060 migration concept and decided that the forced migration to 060 is no longer seen to be objectively justifiable.^[50][51]

Number conservation and overlays

As the number of lines in use continues to grow some areas are close to full capacity. In the late-1990s, Ofcom signalled a number of areas of concern, of which only Coventry has been addressed.

By 2005		By 2012
01202	Bournemouth	01204	Bolton
01203	Coventry	01344	Ascot
01223	Cambridge	01582	Markyate
01224	Aberdeen	01604	Northampton
01273	Brighton	01706	Rochdale
01274	Bradford	01733	Peterborough
01332	Derby	01753	Iver
01483	Guildford
01642	Middlesbrough
01772	Preston
01782	Stoke-on-Trent
01865	Oxford
01902	Wolverhampton
01942	Wigan

In November 2010, Ofcom proposed to abandon renumbering and instead provide capacity by a combination of:

• starting to use local numbers beginning '0' and '1' (and removing the option of dialling locally using just the subscriber number)
• introducing additional, 'overlay' area codes to run in tandem with current codes^[5]

See also

• List of United Kingdom dialling codes
• List of Wales dialling codes
• UK telephone code misconceptions—includes the common "0207" and "0208" misconceptions
• Big Number Change
• Non-geographical telephone numbers in the UK
• Telecommunications in the United Kingdom
• Telephone numbering plan
• Telephone number
• Number portability
• Irish telephone numbering plan
• Ukphonebook.com

References

1. ^ Ofcom (2003-05-07). "A User's Guide to Telephone Numbering". Office of Communications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/numbering/2003/num_guide.htm. Retrieved 2005-05-05. 
2. ^ There remain a few places with the standard 01xxx area code but which have both six-digit and five-digit local numbers, or have only five-digit local numbers. These area codes include 01204, 01208, 01254, 01276, 01297, 01298, 01363, 01364, 01384, 01386, 01404, 01420, 01460, 01461, 01480, 01488, 01524, 01527, 01562, 01566, 01606, 01629, 01635, 01647, 01659, 01695, 01726, 01744, 01750, 01768, 01827, 01837, 01884, 01900, 01905, 01935, 01946, 01949, 01963 and 01995.
3. ^ BT (2003-05-16). "BT's Response to the Consultation by OFTEL on Proposals to Publish a National Telephone Numbering Plan". http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/responses/2003/ntnp0303/bt.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-02.  Page 7: '01697 – Brampton should be 016977; not 01697'.
4. ^ Director General of Telecommunications (2003-07-09). "The National Telephone Numbering Plan". http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/numbering/2003/ntnp0703_b.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-02.  Page 20 shows Brampton listed as 0169 77.
5. ^ ^{a b} http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/geographic-numbers
6. ^ Ofcom (2007-08-15). "Ofcom General Conditions". Office of Communications. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/ga-scheme/general-conditions/. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
7. ^ Ofcom (2007-02-13). "Ofcom introduces UK-wide 03 numbers". Office of Communications. http://media.ofcom.org.uk/2007/02/13/ofcom-introduces-uk-wide-03-numbers/. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
8. ^ Ofcom. "Contacting Ofcom". Office of Communications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/contact-us/. Retrieved 2010-10-10. 
9. ^ BT. "BT Price List". British Telecommunications PLC. http://www.bt.com/pricing/current/Call_Charges_boo/0025_d0e5.htm. Retrieved 2005-05-05. 
10. ^ Older pre-PhONEday 0500 six-figure numbers were left as six-figure numbers after PhONEday. No new 0500 numbers were released after PhONEday.
11. ^ Older pre-PhONEday 0800 six-figure numbers were left as six-figure numbers after PhONEday. All new 0800 numbers released after PhONEday have seven figures.
12. ^ "Jersey telephone number allocations". JCRA. 2009-09-09. http://www.jcra.je/cms3/v2/public/cmsChild.asp?pageID=1024&childID=1036. Retrieved 2010-11-11. 
13. ^ Oftel/Ofcom (1999-06-01). "Oftel/Ofcom Numbering Bulletin 38 - including Numbers Used For Drama. ca. 1999". Office of Communications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/1995_98/numbering/nb38.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-19. 
14. ^ "Telephone Numbers for drama purposes (TV, Radio etc) revised 2004". Ofcom. 2004-10-26. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/numbering/guidance-tele-no/numbers-for-drama. Retrieved 2010-07-16. 
15. ^ Ofcom. "Code and number blocks - 1600 00 to 1799 99" (XLS). Office of Communications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/numbering/sabcde4.xls. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
16. ^ GLA. "101 - a New Number to Report It". Greater London Authority. http://legacy.london.gov.uk/assembly/bmac/2009/nov25/item12.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-10. 
17. ^ Tim Richardson (2001-06-29). "BT to offer free voicemail from Monday". The Register. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2001/06/29/bt_to_offer_free_voicemail/. Retrieved 2005-05-05. 
18. ^ "Other telephone features" (PDF). Telephone price guide. Virgin Media. 2006-10-20. pp. 3. http://www.ntl.com/home/telephone/pdf/TelcoTariff.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-05. 
19. ^ "Events in Telecommunications History - 1912". BT Group. http://www.btplc.com/Thegroup/BTsHistory/1912to1968/1912.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
20. ^ "Events in Telecommunications History - 1981". BT Group. http://www.btplc.com/Thegroup/BTsHistory/1981to1983/1981.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
21. ^ "Events in Telecommunications History - 1958". BT Group. http://www.btplc.com/Thegroup/BTsHistory/1912to1968/1958.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-21. 
22. ^ "Events in Telecommunications History - 1979". BT Group. http://www.btplc.com/Thegroup/BTsHistory/1969to1980/1979.htm. Retrieved 2009-08-07. 
23. ^ Roger W. Haworth (2004-12-16). "An introduction to UK Local Dialling Codes as they were until the late 1970s". http://www.rhaworth.myby.co.uk/phreak/bishopsc.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
24. ^ David Inman, London South Bank University (2003-03-03). "UK STD codes". http://www.scism.lsbu.ac.uk/inmandw/misc/ukcodes.html. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
25. ^ Oftel (2003-05-07). "A User's Guide to Telephone Numbering". http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/numbering/2003/num_guide.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-18. 
26. ^ Ofcom. "UK number allocations listed by initial digits.". http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/numbering/sabc.txt. Retrieved 2010-11-11. 
27. ^ Associated Press (1990-05-06). "London Will Divide Its Telephone Prefix, Fraying Composure". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/06/world/london-will-divide-its-telephone-prefix-fraying-composure.html. Retrieved 2009-09-28. 
28. ^ Includes codes such as 01399, 01426, 01459, 01523, 01893, both before and after PhONEday.
29. ^ Ofcom. "The National Numbering Scheme : Telephone Numbers administered by Ofcom". Office of Communications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/numbering/index.htm#geog1. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
30. ^ ^{a b c d e} These areas had added a "1" to the area code at PhONEday. Previous to that, these codes were 0xxx with six-figure local numbers, except London and parts of NI. London codes were previously 0x1 with seven-figure local numbers. NI codes added a "1" at PhONEday but some areas previously had longer codes than shown, paired with shorter numbers that were often only four or five digits long.
31. ^ ^{a b} Oftel/Ofcom (1997-11-26). "Oftel/Ofcom Numbering Bulletin 34 : Reading Code Change". Office of Communications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/1995_98/numbering/nb34.htm. Retrieved 2005-05-05. 
32. ^ Ofcom (2001-03-20). "National Code & Number Change Framework Document. Issue 20 March 2001. 2.14.3 Use of (029) code for other areas in Wales" (DOC). Office of Communications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/ind_info/numbering/framewrk.doc. Retrieved 2009-09-28. 
33. ^ Ofcom (2001-03-20). "National Code & Number Change Framework Document" (DOC). Office of Communications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/ind_info/numbering/framewrk.doc. Retrieved 2009-07-19. 
34. ^ Ofcom (2009-08-20). "Telephone numbers – the facts and figures : (Boxout) Is it (020) 7 or 0207?". Office of Communications. http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2009/08/phone-numbers/#video. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
35. ^ Ofcom (2004-12-30). "Q&A: New telephone number range for Greater London (020) area" (PDF). Office of Communications. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/telecoms/numbering/faqlondon.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
36. ^ Ruth Scammell (2009-06-05). "Phone wires crossed over new numbers". The News. http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/biz/Phone-wires-crossed-over-new.5337973.jp. Retrieved 2010-05-15.  The News article showing people incorrectly dialling area code as 02392 and getting wrong number for new (023) 93xx xxxx numbers.
37. ^ "The 0114 area code". Sheffield Forums. 2003-06-14. http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1325. Retrieved 2007-10-30. 
38. ^ David Walsh (2009-06-23). "Calling Sheffield (0114) 3". Sheffield Star. http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Calling-Sheffield-0114-3-.5389052.jp. Retrieved 2009-07-16.  Sheffield Star article showing people incorrectly dialling area code as 01142 and getting wrong number for new (0114) 3xx xxxx numbers.
39. ^ Reporter (2007-04-07). "Dialling mix up on hospital calls". Newbury Weekly News. http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/News/Article.aspx?articleID=4109. Retrieved 2009-09-02. Newbury Weekly News article showing people incorrectly dialling area code as 01189 and getting wrong number for new (0118) 3xx xxxx numbers.
40. ^ ^{a b c} Director General of Telecommunications (2003-03-19). "Proposals to publish a National Telephone Numbering Plan : Appendix A : Geographic Area Codes". Oftel. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/numbering/2003/ntnp0303.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
41. ^ ^{a b} Howard Erdunast (2003-03-24). "BT’S response to the consultation by Oftel on proposals to publish a National Telephone Numbering Plan". BT. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/responses/2003/ntnp0303/bt.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
42. ^ ^{a b} C&W (2003-05-05). "Consultation on the proposed National Telephone Numbering Plan - Response from Cable & Wireless". Cable and Wireless. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/responses/2003/ntnp0303/c&w.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
43. ^ Director General of Telecommunications (2003-07-09). "The National Telephone Numbering Plan : Appendix A : Geographic Area Codes". Oftel. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/numbering/2003/ntnp0703.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
44. ^ Director General of Telecommunications (2003-07-22). "The National Telephone Numbering Plan : Appendix A : Geographic Area Codes (revised)". Oftel. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/numbering/2003/ntnp_final_c0703.pdf. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
45. ^ ^{a b} Ofcom. "National Telephone Numbering Plan". Office of Communications. http://www.aa-asterisk.org.uk/index.php/National_Telephone_Numbering_Plan#External_Links. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
46. ^ ^{a b} Ofcom. "Data download - SABC". Office of Communications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/numbering/#datadownload. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
47. ^ Ofcom (2004-05-05). "Data download - README". Office of Communications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/numbering/readme.txt. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
48. ^ Oftel (2003-03-03). "Download data of Telephone Numbers administered by Oftel (archive)". Office of Telecommunications. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/ind_info/numbering/download.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-11. 
49. ^ (01987) Ofcom (2008-04-29). "Telephone Numbering : Creation of New Area Code for Ebbsfleet". Office of Communications. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/ebbsfleet/. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
50. ^ Ofcom (2009-02-27). "Review of the 070 personal numbering range: Summary". Office of Communications. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/070options/statement/. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 
51. ^ Ofcom (2009-02-27). "Review of the 070 personal numbering range" (PDF). Office of Communications. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/070options/statement/statement.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-28. 

External links

• Ofcom - Telephone Area Code Tool - UK dialling code lookup
• UK Numbering Policy section of Ofcom's website
• UK National Telephone Numbering Plan (in PDF format)
• UK Future Numbering Plan from Ofcom's website
• Ralph Adam, 'Send a boy – or dial it yourself? numbering for the information society', Aslib Proceedings, 51:1, January 1999