Telephone Numbers in The United Kingdom - Format - Non-geographic Numbering

Non-geographic Numbering

• 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). 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. 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.

• 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. Some are charged at geographic rate, others not. Other operators are not required to charge the same rates as BT for calling 05 numbers.

• 0500 xxxxxx—Freephone 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 9 digits in length after the 0 trunk code, e.g. 0500 2 88 2 91 (BBC Radio 2, 88 to 91 FM), as they were allocated before the general move to longer numbers in 1995 and before the rest of the 05 range was assigned to corporate and VoIP numbering.

• 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 is exclusive to 08xx numbers, and they could be provided on any number range. More affordable equivalent numbers can often be found via www.saynoto0870.com.

In the future, it is likely that users of 084 and 087 numbers will have to declare the service charge element of the call cost when advertising their phone number, whilst telecoms companies will need to inform their customers about their access charge for calling each number range. Additionally, the forthcoming European Union led Consumer Rights Directive will mean that many users of 084 and 087 numbers will no longer be allowed to use them. The directive bans the usage of numbers that cost more than a geographic call for customer service and complaints lines and other such purposes.

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 (and they also cover 070, 0871, 0872, 0873 and 118xxx services). 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.