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. This article is about the band. ... A telephone numbering plan is a plan for allocating telephone number ranges to countries, regions, areas and exchanges and to non-fixed telephone networks such as mobile phone networks. ... Ofcom is a regulator for communication industries in the United Kingdom. ... Ofcoms logo The Office of Communications, usually known as Ofcom, is the UKs communications regulator. ...

Overview

Country Code: 44
International Call Prefix: 00 This is a list of country calling codes, also known as international direct dialing (IDD) codes, which are needed to access international telephone services. ... Each country has both a country calling code used to dial into a country, and an international call prefix or international access code used to dial out of the country. ...

Since 28 April 2001, almost all normal geographic numbers and most non-geographic numbers are 10 or 11 digits long. The overall structure of the UK's National Numbering Plan is: is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ...

A short list of examples, set out in the officially approved (Ofcom) number groups: An overview of how VoIP works A typical analog telephone adapter for connecting an ordinary phone to a VoIP network A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a protocol optimized for transmission of voice through the Internet or other packet switched networks. ... Ofcom is a regulator for communication industries in the United Kingdom. ...

In the United Kingdom, area codes are three, four, five or six digits long, with large cities having shorter area codes permitting a larger number of telephone numbers in the ten or eleven digits used. The "area code" is also referred to as an 'STD (code)' (subscriber trunk dialling) code or a 'dialling code' in the UK. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the capital city of Wales. ... For other uses, see Leeds (disambiguation) and Leeds City (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... For other uses see Dundee (disambiguation) Dundee is Scotlands fourth largest city, population 154 674 (2001), situated on the North bank of the Firth of Tay. ... The Market Place in Evesham, circa 1904. ... Sedbergh (pronounced Sedber or even, by the locals, Sebber) is a small town in the county of Cumbria, traditionally part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. ... Statistics Population: 4,001 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: NY530609 Administration District: City of Carlisle Shire county: Cumbria Region: North West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Cumbria Historic county: Cumberland Services Police force: Cumbria Constabulary Ambulance service: North West Post office and telephone Post... Subscriber trunk dialling (STD) (also known as subscriber toll dialling) is a term for the UK telephone system allowing subscribers to dial trunk calls without operator assistance. ...

It is very common to see the + notation being misused — +44 (0)xxx xxx xxxx is not an uncommon occurrence even in official documents. For international callers the number between the brackets is dropped. For callers within the United Kingdom the +44 is dropped and the number between the brackets used. Calling +44 0xxx xxx xxxx will not work from most operators, and the +44 (0)xxx notation is incorrect and should not be used. The correct usage of the + notation in this example of the three-digit geographic code is +44 xxx xxx xxxx.

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. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ...

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. Crown dependencies are possessions of the British Crown, as opposed to overseas territories or colonies. ...

Format

General format

Following the changes in 1995, 2000 and 2001, the numbering range in use is as follows. Note that the initial "0" of a telephone number (called the trunk prefix) is not properly considered part of the area code but is, rather, the national long distance calling prefix, and thus (for example) 023 is a "two-digit" area code.

• Calls originating in the UK
  • The leading "0" is only required for calls originating in the UK.
  • Likewise, "00" is the UK dialling prefix for international calls (to be followed by the international country code and number).
• Calls originating from outside the UK
  • Note: The leading "0" should be omitted for all international calls and replaced with the international country code for the UK: +44.

Geographic numbering

Main article: List of United Kingdom dialling codes

• (01xxx) xxxxxx — the most popular form- a five digit area code and up to six digit subscriber number. e.g:

• (01x1) xxx xxxx — the geographical number format for the larger cities, a four digit area code, with a seven digit subscriber number where the first three digits identifies an area within the city.

• (011x) xxx xxxx — the geographical number format for a second tier of large cities, a four digit area code, with a seven-digit subscriber number, e.g:

• (02x) xxxx xxxx — the newest geographical number format and commonly misused e.g. London as 0207 or Cardif as 02920. A three digit area code with an 8-digit subscriber number. The short area code is known as a wide area code. e.g:

• (01xxx) xxxxx, (01xxxx) xxxxx, (01xxxx) xxxx — used for smaller towns where the subscriber number is either four or five digits long; note that the STD code and the subscriber number don't always total eleven digits, e.g:

Notes A Note that the codes 0207 & 0208 do not exist: London is united under a single code, 020. ... For other uses, see Dundee (disambiguation). ... Hull or Kingston upon Hull is a British city situated on the north bank of the Humber estuary. ... For other uses, see Luton (disambiguation). ... This article is about the British city. ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the central part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. ... Outer London is the name for the group of London Boroughs that do not form part of Inner London, but form a ring around it. ... Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in the North East of England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. ... Durham (IPA: locally, in RP) is a small city and main settlement of the City of Durham district of County Durham in North East England. ... For other uses, see Leeds (disambiguation) and Leeds City (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Sheffield (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Nottingham (disambiguation). ... This article discusses Leicester in England. ... This article is about the English city. ... , Reading is a town, unitary authority (the Borough of Reading) and urban area in the English county of Berkshire. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Southampton (disambiguation). ... For other places with the same name, see Portsmouth (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Coventry (disambiguation). ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... This article is about the city in Northern Ireland. ... , Omagh (from the Irish: An Ómaigh meaning The Sacred (or Virgin) Plain) is the county town of County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. ... This article is about the capital city of Wales. ... For the larger local government district, see Metropolitan Borough of Bolton. ... Sedbergh (pronounced Sedber or even, by the locals, Sebber) is a small town in the county of Cumbria, traditionally part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. ... Brampton is a small market town in Cumbria, England about 14 km east of Carlisle and 2 Roman miles south of Hadrians Wall. ...

National Dialling Only ranges

These ranges have subscriber numbers beginning with the digits '0' or '1', eg:

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. Traditionally these have not been used for inbound calls, although these are now being allocated to some Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services^{[citation needed]}. This has been problematic as some mobile phone operators in the UK do not allow access to these ranges, and there may also be difficulty accessing these numbers from outside the UK. Derby (pronounced dar-bee ) is a city in the East Midlands of England. ... For other uses, see Dundee (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... An overview of how VoIP works A typical analog telephone adapter for connecting an ordinary phone to a VoIP network A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a protocol optimized for transmission of voice through the Internet or other packet switched networks. ...

Non-geographic numbering

• 03x xxxx 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).^[1] This means that customers who are benefiting from 'free' minutes on mobiles or landlines would also be able to call these numbers using their inclusive minutes. 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. 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 034/037 which will be used for migration from the 084 and 087 number ranges respectively. Ofcom itself began using 03 numbers on 13 November 2007 for public use.^[2] In the United Kingdom, non geographical numbers are telephone numbers available for private sale which, rather than being assigned to a particular telephone line or circuit, provide callers with a contact number which gives no indication as to the geographical location of the line being called. ... is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ofcom is a regulator for communication industries in the United Kingdom. ... The United Kingdom dialling code 0870 is defined by OFCOM as Special Services: Higher Rate. ... An 0845 number is a non-geographic number used within the United Kingdom. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

• 05x xxxx xxxx — Reserved for corporate numbering.

The 0500 range is used for some freephone services which were originally provided by Mercury Communications Ltd (now Cable & Wireless). These numbers are different from the rest of the 05 range in that they are only 10 digits in length, e.g. 0500 123456, as they were allocated before the 05 range was assigned to corporate numbering. Note that unlike 03 numbers there is no uniform pricing for 05 numbers; BT charge a number of different rates depending on the number dialled.^[3]. 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 An overview of how VoIP works A typical analog telephone adapter for connecting an ordinary phone to a VoIP network A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a protocol optimized for transmission of voice through the Internet or other packet switched networks. ... Mercury Communications was a national telephone company in the United Kingdom. ... Cable and Wireless is a British telecommunications company. ...

• 07xxx xxxxxx — mobile phones, pagers, personal numbering and WiFi numbers.

Individual mobile phone companies are allocated different ranges within the 075xx, 077xx, 078xx and 079xx area codes. Changes to mobile numbers were mostly straight replacements, such as Vodafone customers on the 0378 block became 07778. Vodafone Group Plc is a mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, England, UK. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a market value of about £84. ...

Since the advent of Mobile number portability, mobile prefixes can no longer be relied on to determine the current operator of a particular mobile number - only the original operator. Vodafone Group Plc is a mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, England, UK. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a market value of about £84. ... The O2 plc logo. ... Vodafone Group Plc is a mobile network operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, England, UK. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover and has a market value of about £84. ... The O2 plc logo. ... See also Orange (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word. ... T-Mobile logo T-Mobile is a multinational mobile phone operator. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

• 08xx — Non-geographic fixed-rate, or special-rate services, e.g. many UK businesses employ this type of number because of extra benefits 08xx numbers can provide, such as fax to email, virtual office applications, revenue, and also because they are totally portable - if your business moves, the 08xx number can move with you.

For other uses, see Fax (disambiguation). ... E-mail, or email, is short for electronic mail and is a method of composing, sending, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems. ... Virtual Office is a common term for shared office services, which normally includes business address, mail & courier services, phone services, fax services, answering services, web-hosting services, and meeting & conference facilities. ... A toll-free, Freecall, Freephone, or 800 number is a special telephone number, in that the called party is charged the cost of the calls by the telephone carrier, instead of the calling party. ... An 0845 number is a non-geographic number used within the United Kingdom. ...

Crown dependencies

• Guernsey, Alderney, Sark

• Jersey

• Isle of Man

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 (long-distance) rate as those to geographic numbers in the UK, calls may be excluded from calling plans offering unlimited UK fixed line calls, and some mobile operators also charge more.

Drama 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 4960. 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, toll-free and premium rate numbers. It is unclear whether the new 03 range will be represented in the future. In North America, telephone numbers with the prefix 555 are widely used for fictitious phone numbers in television shows, films and other types of fictional media. ... This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ...

• A full list of fictitious numbers

Not all numbers used in TV dramas come from the recommended ranges. For instance, the TV soap Coronation Street set in the Manchester 0161 code area uses numbers in the unallocated 0161 715 XXXX range.^{[citation needed]} Coronation Street is an award-winning British soap opera. ...

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: For the protein involved in the synthesis of major histocompatibility complex II, see CLIP (protein). ...

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. The chargeable number 101 (10p per call) is being introduced in stages, with an aim to cover all of England and Wales by 2008, for "non-urgent emergencies". As of November 2006 however, it was alleged that owing to low take-up in trial areas this proposal is on indefinite hold. However, in at least one pilot area the service, while proving to be popular with the public and considered a great success by the Local Authorities, has been withdrawn due to cancellation of Home Office funding^[4]. 999 is the United Kingdoms and Irelands emergency telephone number and Polands medical emergency number. ... 1-1-2 (one-one-two) is the emergency telephone number for GSM and Europe. ...

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". A telephone service allowing one to obtain people or organisations phone numbers by providing other details, usually their full name and address. ... 118 118 is a UK directory enquiries provider assisting customers with telephone numbers and other information services. ...

Fixed line telephone subscribers for BT^[5] , Virgin Media^[6] and Talk Talk 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. 1-5-7-1 is the name of a family of calling features in the United Kingdom, for residential and business telephone lines and for mobile telephones, that are provided by BT Group and several other telephone service providers. ...

Since the early 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) 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. A speaking clock service is used for people who wish to know the correct and accurate time. ...

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 special telephone numbers within the regular code space have only eight digits, namely 0800 1111 the national ChildLine helpline, and 0845 4647 for NHS Direct medical advice. ChildLine is a UK-based childrens helpline. ... NHS Direct is the name of a telephone and online service provided by the National Health Service in the UK. It was introduced throughout England and Wales in 1999 and rolled out into Scotland (where it is called NHS24) in 2004. ...

History

The telephone service in the United Kingdom was originally provided by private companies and local councils. But by 1912–13 [1] all except the telephone service of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire 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 remained part of British Telecom until 1987. Hull or Kingston upon Hull is a British city situated on the north bank of the Humber estuary. ... Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England. ... The British General Post Office (GPO) was officially established in 1660 by Charles II and it eventually grew to combine the functions of both the state postal system and telecommunications carrier. ... The British General Post Office (GPO) was officially established in 1660 by Charles II and it eventually grew to combine the functions of both the state postal system and telecommunications carrier. ... BT Group plc (which trades as just BT, and is commonly known by its former name, British Telecom) is the privatised former British state telecommunications operator. ...

Post Office Telecommunications was reorganised in 1980–81 [2] 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. Post Office Telecommunications was set up as a separate department of the UK Post Office, in October 1969. ... BT Group plc (which trades as just BT, and is commonly known by its former name, British Telecom) is the privatised former British state telecommunications operator. ... BT Group plc (which trades as just BT, and is commonly known by its former name, British Telecom) is the privatised former British state telecommunications operator. ... Public ownership (also called government ownership or state ownership) is government ownership of any asset, industry, or corporation at any level, national, regional or local (municipal). ... Privatization (sometimes privatisation, denationalization, or — especially in India — disinvestment) is the process of transferring property, from public ownership to private ownership. ... Kingston Communications PLC is a telecommunications provider based in Kingston upon Hull serving primarily the East Yorkshire area. ...

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. The Director System was introduced to six cities in the UK from 1922 following the introduction of the automatic telephone exchange in the UK in 1912. ... A telephone operator manually connecting calls with patch cables at a telephone switchboard. ... Holborn (pronounced ho-bun or ho-burn) is a place in London, named after a tributary to the river Fleet that flowed through the area, the Hole-bourne (the stream in the hollow). ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the British city. ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ...

Introduction of area codes

Main article: List of United Kingdom dialling codes

Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) was introduced in 1958^[7] 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^[8] Notes A Note that the codes 0207 & 0208 do not exist: London is united under a single code, 020. ... Subscriber trunk dialling (STD) (also known as subscriber toll dialling) is a term for the UK telephone system allowing subscribers to dial trunk calls without operator assistance. ... Jan. ... A telephone operator manually connecting calls with patch cables at a telephone switchboard. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ...

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. This page is about Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Two-way radio. ... Premium-rate telephone numbers are telephone numbers for telephone calls during which certain services are provided, and for which prices higher than normal are charged. ...

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

The codes 071, 081, and 091 were reserved for later expansion, with the former two eventually being allocated to London (see below), and 091 to Tyne and Wear and Durham. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... This article is about the British city. ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Liverpool (disambiguation). ... This article is about the City of Manchester in England. ... Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in the North East of England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. ... Durham (IPA: locally, in RP) is a small city and main settlement of the City of Durham district of County Durham in North East England. ...

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. The use of alphabetic exchange (area) codes was abandoned in 1966 in favour of all figure numbering. As such about 60% of current area codes are still based on the original alphabetic STD. All figure dialling refers to the change in the UK telephone numbering plan in 1966 when the three_digit numbers for local telephone exchanges began to be assigned without reference to any correspondence to the letters on the dial. ...

Calls to the Republic of Ireland

Until the late 1980s, calls to cities in the Republic of Ireland were made using short codes starting with 000:

 Dublin 0001 (Dublin 01 Area) Cork 0002 (Cork 021 Area) Dundalk 0004 (Dundalk 042 Area) Waterford 0005 (Waterford 051 Area) Limerick 0006 (Limerick 061 Area) Letterkenny0007 (Letterkenny 074 Area) Galway 0009 (Galway 091 Area) 

As the network was upgraded, direct dialling became possible to the whole country, but this was not completed in the rural areas until 1988. Until then, some calls from the UK to Ireland were made through the operator and diverted to the "Irish Service". For other uses, see Dublin (disambiguation). ... This article is about the city in the Republic of Ireland. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Irish Grid Reference S604123 Statistics Province: Munster County: Area: 41. ... For other uses, see Limerick (disambiguation). ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Irish Grid Reference C167188 Statistics Province: Ulster County: Dáil Éireann: Donegal North East Dialling Code: 074, +000 353 74 Area: 307. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Irish Grid Reference M300256 Statistics Province: Connacht County: Dáil Éireann: Galway West European Parliament: North-West Dialling Code: 091 Postal District(s): G Area: 50. ...

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 international format using the international access code (since 1995, 00) (actually, 010 for a while) and country code (353). This is a list of country calling codes, also known as international direct dialing (IDD) codes, which are needed to access international telephone services. ...

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 "Irish Republic" rate, higher than inland rates, but lower than those for elsewhere in Western Europe. Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ... A current understanding of Western Europe. ...

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 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.

01 for London

The first major change was in May 1990, when the London 01 area code was replaced with 071 and 081. Exchanges in central London used the 071 code with the remaining exchanges using the 081 code and formed a ring around the 071 area. Although this effectively doubled the available numbers it was not the last change for the capital.

PhONEday

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, central London's 071 became 0171. This was with a view to reorganising the numbering plan, so that the first two digits would indicate the type of service called: is the 106th day of the year (107th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full 1995 Gregorian calendar). ... For a hidden feature or message, see Easter egg (virtual). ...

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. A toll-free, Freecall, Freephone, or 800 number is a special telephone number, in that the called party is charged the cost of the calls by the telephone carrier, instead of the calling party. ... Premium-rate telephone numbers are telephone numbers for telephone calls during which certain services are provided, and for which prices higher than normal are charged. ...

It is worth noting that once the above ranges have been exhausted, new numbers will be allocated with a different fifth prefix digit. For example, the Sheffield range (0114) 2 has now been exhausted, and new numbers (other than those recycled from the (0114) 2 range) are prefixed with (0114) 3. Similarly in Leeds, (0113) 3, Leicester, (0116) 3, and Bristol, (0117) 3, but slightly different in Nottingham, where the new prefix is (0115) 8. For other uses, see Leeds (disambiguation) and Leeds City (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Sheffield (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Nottingham (disambiguation). ... This article discusses Leicester in England. ... This article is about the English city. ... , Reading is a town, unitary authority (the Borough of Reading) and urban area in the English county of Berkshire. ...

Big Number Change

Main article: Big Number Change

On 22 April 2000 the second phase of the plan came into operation, dubbed the "Big Number Change". With 02* freed up by the previous reorganisation, it could be re-used. 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. ... is the 112th day of the year (113th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ...

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 80 and 023 92 are treated as separate by the BT site for determining local call area. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Southampton (disambiguation). ... For other places with the same name, see Portsmouth (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Coventry (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital city of Wales. ... This article is about the city in Northern Ireland. ... Northern Ireland (Irish: , Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a constituent country of the United Kingdom lying in the northeast of the island of Ireland, covering 5,459 square miles (14,139 km², about a sixth of the islands total area). ...

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

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 code +44 28.

The prefixes for existing numbers in Northern Ireland are split up into 7 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 2. The next county is County Armagh so numbers here start 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. Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Antrim Area: 2,844 km² Population (est. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Armagh Area: 1,254 km² Population (est. ... For the council, see Lisburn City Council. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Ulster County: District: Carrickfergus Borough UK Parliament: East Antrim European Parliament: Northern Ireland Dialling Code: 028, +44 28 Post Town: Carrickfergus Postal District(s): BT38 Population (2005) 32,668 Carrickfergus (from the Irish: Carraig Fhearghais meaning Rock of Fergus) is a large town in... Antrim in Northern Ireland may refer to Antrim town. ... Saintfield Windmill Saintfield (in Irish: Tamhnach Naomh, ie Field of Saints) is a large village located in mid-County Down, Northern Ireland, situated roughly halfway between Belfast and Downpatrick on the A7 road. ...

In addition, mobile and pager numbers were all moved into the 07 range. Pagers moved into 076, while personal numbers moved to 070. Mobile numbers moved into the 077, 078 and 079 ranges. The exception to this was Manx Telecom mobiles, where the code became 07624 in order to match the 01624 used for landlines. In addition, lo-call and national call numbers migrated to 08xxx and premium rate numbers to 09xxx. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Antrim Area: 2,844 km² Population (est. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Armagh Area: 1,254 km² Population (est. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Ulster County: District: Down UK Parliament: South Down European Parliament: Northern Ireland Dialling Code: 028, +437 Post Town: Newcastle Postal District(s): BT33 Population (2001) 7,444 View from main street in Newcastle towards Slieve Donard, the highest peak of the Mourne Mountains. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Downpatrick Area: 2,448 km² Population (est. ... , Enniskillen (from the Irish: Inis Ceithleann meaning Kathleens Island) is the county town (and largest town) in County Fermanagh and the west of Northern Ireland. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Enniskillen Area: 1,691 km² Population (est. ... , Limavady (IPA: ) (from the Irish: Léim an Mhadaidh meaning leap of the dog) is a market town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, with Benevenagh as a backdrop. ... For other places with similar names, see Londonderry (disambiguation) and Derry (disambiguation). ... , Omagh (from the Irish: An Ómaigh meaning The Sacred (or Virgin) Plain) is the county town of County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Omagh Area: 3,155 km² Population (est. ... This article is about the city in Northern Ireland. ... Greater Belfast is an area surrounding and including Belfast in Northern Ireland. ... For the council, see Lisburn City Council. ... Greater Belfast is an area surrounding and including Belfast in Northern Ireland. ... Manx Telecom is the primary telecommunications provider in the Isle of Man. ...

020 for London

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 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 "London National Dialling" numbers.

It is a common misconception that London still has more than one area code (i.e. "0207 & 0208"). 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.^[9] // Local numbers and area codes A full British fixed telephone number is divided into two parts: an STD code (area code) and a local number. ...

This misconception of area code and number separation is also seen in other areas of the country where an area code reduction was seen due to the Big Number Change, such as Reading numbers still being written 01189 xxxxxx, whereas the correct number sequence is (0118) 9xx xxxx, Coventry being written as 02476 xxxxxx, whereas the correct number sequence is (024) 76xx xxxx, Cardiff 029 being written as 02920 xxxxxx whereas the correct number sequence is (029) 20xx xxxx. This is also similar in Sheffield, where numbers are often seen written as 01142 or missing the leading digit 2 when abbreviated (751234 instead of 275 1234 for example).^[10] 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. ...

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 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. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ...

New '06' Code

Creating numbers beginning 06, to replace 070 numbers - sometimes confused with mobiles - is also being considered.

At the moment, companies such as Patientline use 070 numbers. There is no cap on caller charges.

Ofcom wants 070 and 06 numbers to have a price cap, and 07 numbers to be used exclusively for mobile phones.

Under plans, rates charged to people calling 08 phone lines would be made clearer by linking the cost of the call to the third digit. Numbers starting 080 would be free, while 082 would be cheaper than 089.

References

Ofcom is a regulator for communication industries in the United Kingdom. ... Current logo of The Register. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Virgin Media Inc. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (pronounced Bee tee) (also previously as British Telecom and is still commonly known as such amongst the general public) is the privatised UK state telecommunications operator. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... BT Group plc (formerly British Telecommunications plc) which trades as BT (pronounced Bee tee) (also previously as British Telecom and is still commonly known as such amongst the general public) is the privatised UK state telecommunications operator. ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (common) era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• List of United Kingdom dialling codes
• Telecommunications in the United Kingdom
• Telephone numbering plan
• Irish telephone numbering plan
• UK telephone code misconceptions — includes the common "0207" and "0208" misconceptions
• Telephone number
• Number portability

Notes A Note that the codes 0207 & 0208 do not exist: London is united under a single code, 020. ... Until 1982, the main civil telecommunications system in the UK was a state monopoly known as Post Office Telecommunications. ... A telephone numbering plan is a plan for allocating telephone number ranges to countries, regions, areas and exchanges and to non-fixed telephone networks such as mobile phone networks. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A telephone number is a sequence of decimal digits that uniquely indicates the network termination point. ... Number portability is the practice of allowing customers to transfer their telephone numbers from one telephone operator (PSTN, mobile, IP-based or other) to another. ...

External links

• UK Numbering Policy section of Ofcom's website
• UK National Telephone Numbering Plan (in PDF format)
• UK Future Numbering Plan from Ofcom's website
• UK phone information