The "Big Number Change" was the name given to the update of dialling codes in the U.K. in response to the rapid late 1990s growth of telecommunications and impending exhaustion of numbers. The change greatly expanded the pool of available numbers while helping to retain 'local dialling' (the ability to dial local numbers directly, without needing to dial an area code first). The change affected the dialling codes assigned to Cardiff, Coventry, London, Northern Ireland, Portsmouth and Southampton, culminating in a large switch on Saturday, 22 April, 2000. In addition to new area/city codes for many parts of the U.K., the switch was also coupled with a move to eight-digit local numbers, and the adjustment of all mobile phone numbers in the U.K. to the 07 prefix. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but otherwise retaining the same mindset. ... Cardiff (Welsh: Caerdydd) is the capital and largest city of Wales. ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre For alternative meanings see: Coventry (disambiguation) Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. ... The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster, which contains Big Ben London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Royal motto: Quis separabit (Latin: Who will separate?) Northern Irelands location within the UK Official languages English, Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Area  - Total Ranked 4th 13,843 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 4th 1,685,267 122/km² NUTS 1... This article is about the English city of Portsmouth. ... Civic Centre, Southampton Southampton is a city and major port situated on the south coast of England. ...

Geographical number changes

The following changes took place on mainland Britain:

 Area Old Number New Number Inner London 0171 xxx xxxx (020) 7xxx xxxx Outer London 0181 xxx xxxx (020) 8xxx xxxx Portsmouth 01705 xxxxxx (023) 92xx xxxx Southampton 01703 xxxxxx (023) 80xx xxxx Coventry 01203 xxxxxx (024) 76xx xxxx Cardiff 01222 xxxxxx (029) 20xx xxxx 

In Northern Ireland, the situation was more complicated. While the primary reason for the changes was the lack of numbering capacity in Belfast (01232), this was not the only reason. When STD codes were introduced in the 1960s, Northern Ireland was allocated only 14 area codes for 34 charging groups. Normal practice on mainland Britain was to allocate one area code per charging group, but as calls to Northern Ireland were national rate from anywhere on the mainland, it was not seen to be necessary to differentiate between all of them. So, area codes covering multiple charge groups were created; in practice this meant that some areas had longer area codes. For example, while Enniskillen was allocated the area code 0365 (0EK5), Kesh was allocated 03656 and Lisnaskea 03657. As a result, numbers in Enniskillen could not begin with 6 or 7, as this would conflict with those of Kesh or Lisnaskea. Subscriber trunk dialling (STD) is an obsolete term for the UK telephone system allowing subscribers to dial trunk calls without operator assistance. ... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ...

All this meant that while Enniskillen's numbers could be six digits long, Kesh's and Lisnaskea's (and those of other dependent exchanges) could only be five digits, due to the limit of the length of a phone number. This severely restricted capacity in these areas. As a result, at the Big Number Change, all these dependent exchanges were migrated to different numbers than their parent exchanges; in this instance while Enniskillen's 01365 (the 1 coming from PhONEday) was migrated to 028 66, Kesh went from 013656 to 028 686 and Lisnaskea from 013657 to 028 677. This meant that Kesh could expand into the rest of the 028 68x range. The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Numbering Plan, is regulated by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which replaced the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) in 2003. ...

Note that the new numbering scheme groups numbers together such that the first digit identifies the county. The full list of changes for Northern Ireland [1] is as follows: The island of Ireland has 32 counties, with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland being nicknamed respectively the six counties and the twenty-six counties. ...

 Area Old Number New Number County Antrim Ballycastle 012657 xxxxx (028) 207x xxxx Martinstown 012667 xxxxx (028) 217x xxxx Ballymena (5-digit) 01266 xxxxx (028) 256x xxxx Ballymena (6-digit) 01266 xxxxxx (028) 25xx xxxx Ballymoney 012656 xxxxx (028) 276x xxxx Larne 01574 xxxxxx (028) 28xx xxxx Kilrea 012665 xxxxx (028) 295x xxxx County Armagh Newry (5-digit) 01693 xxxxx (028) 302x xxxx Newry (6-digit) 01693 xxxxxx (028) 30xx xxxx Armagh 01861 xxxxxx (028) 37xx xxxx Portadown 01762 xxxxxx (028) 38xx xxxx County Down Banbridge 018206 xxxxx (028) 406x xxxx Rostrevor 016937 xxxxx (028) 417x xxxx Kircubbin 012477 xxxxx (028) 427x xxxx Newcastle 013967 xxxxx (028) 437x xxxx Downpatrick 01396 xxxxxx (028) 44xx xxxx County Fermanagh Enniskillen 01365 xxxxxx (028) 66xx xxxx Lisnaskea 013657 xxxxx (028) 677x xxxx Kesh 013656 xxxxx (028) 686x xxxx County Londonderry Coleraine (6 digit) 01265 xxxxxx (028) 70xx xxxx Coleraine (5 digit) 01265 xxxxx (028) 703x xxxx Londonderry 01504 xxxxxx (028) 71xx xxxx Limavady 015047 xxxxx (028) 777x xxxx Magherafelt (6 digit) 01648 xxxxxx (028) 79xx xxxx Magherafelt (5 digit) 01648 xxxxx (028) 796x xxxx County Tyrone Carrickmore 016627 xxxxx (028) 807x xxxx Newtownstewart 016626 xxxxx (028) 816x xxxx Omagh 01662 xxxxxx (028) 82xx xxxx Ballygawley 016625 xxxxx (028) 855x xxxx Cookstown 016487 xxxxx (028) 867x xxxx Dungannon 01868 xxxxxx (028) 87xx xxxx Fivemiletown 013655 xxxxx (028) 895x xxxx Belfast area Belfast 01232 xxxxxx (028) 90xx xxxx Bangor 01247 xxxxxx (028) 91xx xxxx Lisburn 01846 xxxxxx (028) 92xx xxxx Ballyclare 01960 xxxxxx (028) 93xx xxxx Antrim 01849 xxxxxx (028) 94xx xxxx Saintfield 01238 xxxxxx (028) 97xx xxxx 

For more information and a Big Number Change FAQs, see here: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/publications/1999/consumer/qanum999.htm County Antrim (Contae Aontroma in Irish) is one of the six Irish counties that form Northern Ireland. ... County Armagh (Contae Ard Mhacha in Irish) is a county in Ulster, Ireland. ... County Down, (An Dún in Irish) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, covering an area of 2,448 km² (945 square miles). ... County Fermanagh (Contae Fear Manach in Irish) is the westernmost of the six counties that form Northern Ireland. ... County Londonderry or County Derry (Doire in Irish) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. ... This article is about County Tyrone. ... Belfast (Béal Feirste in Irish) is the second-largest city in Ireland. ...