PhONEday

Last updated
Logo used in informational material. PhONEday logo.jpg
Logo used in informational material.

PhONEday was a change to telephone numbering in the United Kingdom on Sunday 16 April 1995. A shortage of unique telephone numbers in the old dialling system meant that it was becoming increasingly difficult in certain areas of the country to assign unique numbers to new subscribers. To counteract this, dialling codes starting with 0 were changed to start with 01. In Bristol, Leeds, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield, the existing area codes, which were 5 digits in length, were instead entirely replaced with new codes comprising 4 digits, to increase the amount of possible numbers by a factor of ten. The changes made possible the ability to provision new numbers in each of these five cities. It also had the effect of assigning all geographic landline telephone numbers into one range of numbers starting with 01, allowing for further changes to be made at the Big Number Change in 2000. A £16m advertising campaign, and an eight-month parallel period during which both old and new codes were active, preceded the change. [1] PhONEday followed a change made in May 1990, when the old London area code 01 was released from use, permitting all United Kingdom geographic numbers to begin with this prefix. Originally planned in 1991 to take place in 1994, [2] in 1992 the change was postponed until the Easter Sunday bank holiday in 1995. [2]

Contents

The PhONEday changes also released space for new geographic area codes beginning 02, which would come into use as part of the Big Number Change in 2000. The changes also allowed 10-digit numbers beginning 07, 08 and 09 to be used for mobile, non-geographic and premium-rate services, from 1997 onwards, with all remaining 9-digit mobile, non-geographic and premium-rate numbers from 02 to 09 being converted to 10 digits and moved into the 07, 08 and 09 prefixes in 2001.

Number changes

Additional "1"

On PhONEday, 16 April 1995, the digit "1" was added after the initial "0" to prefix all geographic area codes. For example, the code for Inner London changed from 071 to 0171 and the code for Reading changed from 0734 to 01734. Other examples were:

AreaNew numberingOld numbering
Coventry (01203) xxxxxx(0203) xxxxxx
Birmingham (0121) xxx xxxx(021) xxx xxxx
Cardiff (01222) xxxxxx(0222) xxxxxx
Ashford (01233) xxxxxx(0233) xxxxxx
Blackburn (01254) xxxxx or xxxxxx(0254) xxxxx or xxxxxx
Cromer (01263) xxxxxx(0263) xxxxxx
Castle Point (01268) xxxxxx(0268) xxxxxx
Buxton (01298) xxxxx(0298) xxxxx
Edinburgh (0131) xxx xxxx(031) xxx xxxx
Derby (01332) xxxxxx(0332) xxxxxx
Dundee (01382) xxxxxx(0382) xxxxxx
Evesham (01386) xxxxx or xxxxxx(0386) xxxxx or xxxxxx
Dumfries (01387) xxxxxx(0387) xxxxxx
Langholm (0138 73) xxxxx(038 73) xxxxx
Glasgow (0141) xxx xxxx(041) xxx xxxx
Hull (01482) xxxxxx(0482) xxxxxx
Liverpool (0151) xxx xxxx(051) xxx xxxx
Lancaster (01524) xxxxx or xxxxxx(0524) xxxxx or xxxxxx
Hornby (0152 42) xxxxx(052 42) xxxxx
Jersey (01534) xxxxxx(0534) xxxxxx
Luton (01582) xxxxxx(0582) xxxxxx
Manchester (0161) xxx xxxx(061) xxx xxxx
Boston (01205) xxxxxx(0205) xxxxxx
Maidenhead [3] (01628) xxxxxx(0628) xxxxxx
(01628) 6xxxxx(0628) xxxxx
Middlesbrough/Stockton-on-Tees (01642) xxx xxxx(0642) xxx xxxx
Magherafelt (01648) xxxxx or xxxxxx(0648) xxxxx or xxxxxx
Cookstown (0164 87) xxxxx(064 87) xxxxx
Melton Mowbray (01662) xxxxx or xxxxxx(0662) xxxxx or xxxxxx
Malvern (01684) xxxxxx(0684) xxxxxx
Wigton (0169 73) xxxxx(069 73) xxxxx
Brampton [lower-alpha 1] (0169 77) xxxxx(069 77) xxxxx
(0169 77) xxxx(069 77) xxxx
Southampton (01703) xxxxxx(0703) xxxxxx
Southend on Sea (01702) xxxxxx(0702) xxxxxx
Inner London (0171) xxx xxxx(071) xxx xxxx
Sevenoaks (01732) xxxxxx(0732) xxxxxx
Reading (01734) xxxxxx(0734) xxxxxx
Slough [6] (01753) xxxxxx(0753) xxxxxx
Stoke-on-Trent (01782) xxxxxx(0782) xxxxxx
Outer London (0181) xxx xxxx(081) xxx xxxx
Uxbridge (01895) xxxxxx(0895) xxxxxx
York (01904) xxx xxxx(0904) xxx xxxx
Tyneside/Durham/Sunderland (0191) xxx xxxx(091) xxx xxxx
Walsall (01922) xxxxxx(0922) xxxxxx
Watford (01923) xxxxxx(0923) xxxxxx
Newton Abbot (01626) xxxxxx(0626) xxxxxx
Torquay (01803) xxxxxx(0803) xxxxxx

New short codes

Five new shorter area codes were introduced for cities that were running low on available phone numbers and a digit was prepended to each subscriber number.

CityNew numberingOld numbering
Leeds (0113) 2xx xxxx(0532) xxxxxx
Sheffield (0114) 2xx xxxx(0742) xxxxxx
Nottingham (0115) 9xx xxxx(0602) xxxxxx
Leicester (0116) 2xx xxxx(0533) xxxxxx
Bristol (0117) 9xx xxxx(0272) xxxxxx

This also affected some national dialling only numbers for those cities:

CityNew numberingOld numbering
Leeds 0113 0ax xxxx0532 0xxxxx
0113 1ax xxxx0532 1xxxxx
Sheffield 0114 0ax xxxx0742 0xxxxx
0114 1ax xxxx0742 1xxxxx
Nottingham 0115 0ax xxxx0602 0xxxxx
0115 1ax xxxx0602 1xxxxx
Leicester 0116 0ax xxxx0533 0xxxxx
0116 1ax xxxx0533 1xxxxx
Bristol 0117 0ax xxxx0272 0xxxxx
0117 1ax xxxx0272 1xxxxx

International access

The international access code also changed on PhONEday, from 010 to 00, thus meeting the international call prefix standard set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Legacy

In cities that were running out of subscriber numbers, new sub-ranges beginning with a different initial digit to existing numbers started to be allocated. For example, in Sheffield (0114) when the 2xx xxxx numbers were exhausted, new numbers 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 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. [7]

CityNumber rangeUsage
Leeds
(0113) 2xx xxxxNumbers transferred from (0532) xxxxxx
(0113) 3xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 1997
(0113) 4xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 2010
(0113) 8xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 2006
Sheffield
(0114) 2xx xxxxNumbers transferred from (0742) xxxxxx
(0114) 3xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 2004
(0114) 4xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 2009
Nottingham
(0115) 2xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 2009
(0115) 7xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 2006
(0115) 8xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 1997
(0115) 9xx xxxxNumbers transferred from (0602) xxxxxx
Leicester
(0116) 2xx xxxxNumbers transferred from (0533) xxxxxx
(0116) 3xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 2004
(0116) 4xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 2009
Bristol
(0117) 2xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 2007
(0117) 3xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 1997
(0117) 4xx xxxxNew phase of numbers, issued from 2012
(0117) 9xx xxxxNumbers transferred from (0272) xxxxxx

After PhONEday, further changes to geographic area codes were made in Reading three years later and in London, Southampton, Portsmouth, Coventry, Cardiff and Northern Ireland at the Big Number Change five years later.

The changes made at PhONEday were one step towards reorganising the numbering plan at a later date, so that the first two digits would indicate the type of service called. [8] PhONEday had cleared area codes from 02 to 09 of all geographic allocations by converting 9-digit numbers to 10-digit 01 numbers (and, in parts of at least 47 area codes, 8-digit numbers to 9-digit 01 numbers). After PhONEday, all pre-existing 9-digit mobile, non-geographic, premium rate, personal and pager numbers from 02 to 09 remained in place. Those would be moved to new 07, 08 and 09 prefixes and converted to 10-digits in the Big Number Change in 2000. However, from 1997 onwards, all new numbers for those services were allocated with 10-digits and already conforming to the new number plan: mobile phones (077xx, 078xx, 079xx), personal numbers (070), pagers (076), local-rate non-geographic revenue-share (0845), national-rate non-geographic revenue-share (0870) and premium rate (090x). Gaps were left within each of those new 10-digit number ranges to allow for the older 9-digit 02 to 09 numbers to migrate in the Big Number Change. Freephone numbers were an exception. Older 9-digit 0500 and 0800 numbers, as well as newer 10-digit 0800 and 0808 numbers, all remained in use after the Big Number Change.

Notes

  1. In 1995, Brampton (06977) 2xxx and (06977) 3xxx (4+4 format) numbers became (016977) 2xxx and (016977) 3xxx (5+4 format) numbers. Oftel "forgot" to update those two entries in the numberplan, leaving them as "4+4" and thereby incorrectly implying (01697) 72xx and (01697) 73xx - with both an incorrect area code and the final digit missing from the subscriber number. It took 15 years for Ofcom to correct these errors in the "s1_code.txt" allocation file. The relevant entries are now correctly marked as "5+4" format, but the errors remain in other Ofcom documents such as "sabc.txt". Ofcom has ignored warnings made by BT in 2003 and by others in more recent years. Additionally, (016977) 6xxxx to (016977) 9xxxx are still incorrectly marked as "4+6" format in Ofcom's data, when in reality they are "5+5" format. [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

Premium-rate telephone numbers are telephone numbers that charge callers higher price rates for select services, including information and entertainment. A portion of the call fees is paid to the service provider, allowing premium calls to be an additional source of revenue for businesses. Tech support, psychic hotlines, and adult chat lines are among the most popular kinds of premium-rate phone services. Other services include directory enquiries, weather forecasts, competitions and ratings televoting. Some businesses, e.g. low-cost airlines, and diplomatic missions, such as the US Embassy in London or the UK Embassy in Washington, have also used premium-rate phone numbers for calls from the general public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone numbers in Greece</span>

This is a list of dialing codes in Greece. The first digit represents the type of service. 1 is used for short codes, 2 for geographical numbers, 5 is used for inter-network routing purposes and VPNs, 6 for mobile services, 7 is reserved for universal access numbers, 8 for reduced-fee services, 9 is used for premium rate services. All dialable numbers are ten digits, except for short codes, 807-XXXX used for calling card access codes, and numbers in the 5 range, used for routing purposes and not dialable by end-subscribers.

A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, reachable by a system of destination code routing. Telephone numbering plans are defined in each of the administrative regions of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and in private telephone networks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom</span>

In the United Kingdom, telephone numbers are administered by the Office of Communications (Ofcom). For this purpose, Ofcom established a telephone numbering plan, known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, which is the system for assigning telephone numbers to subscriber stations.

In Argentina, area codes are two, three, or four digits long. Local customer numbers are six to eight digits long. The total number of digits is ten, for example, phone number (11) 1234-5678 for Buenos Aires is made up of a 2-digit area code number and an 8-digit subscriber's number, while (383) 123-4567 would be an example of a Catamarca number.

The Big Number Change addressed various issues with the telephone dialling plan in the United Kingdom, during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone numbers in the Republic of Ireland</span>

Numbers on the Irish telephone numbering plan are regulated and assigned to operators by ComReg.

Widespread UK telephone code misconceptions, in particular brought on by the Big Number Change in 2000, have been reported by regulator Ofcom since publication of a report it commissioned in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone numbers in Romania</span>

The dialling plan for mobile networks and new landline operators is closed; all subscriber numbers must be dialled in full. For landline numbers starting with 02, the dialling plan used to be open; the trunk digit and area code could be omitted if the caller was in the same area code as the callee. However, starting May 3, 2008, all landline numbers must be dialled in full.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">020</span> Dialling code for London in the United Kingdom

020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exchanges in and around Greater London as part of the largest linked numbering scheme in the United Kingdom. In common with all other British area codes the initial '0' is a trunk prefix that is not required when dialling London from abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Former Australian dialling codes</span>

The format of telephone numbers in Australia has changed over time to allow for the expansion of the subscriber base as technology has improved.

0191 is the UK telephone dialling code used by Newcastle upon Tyne, Durham, Sunderland and other nearby areas in the north east of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone numbers in Norway</span> Norway telephone codes

Telephone numbers in Norway have the country code "+47" and up to the first 2 digits of the phone number will indicate its geographic area. Emergency services are 3 digits long and start with the number "1". Mobile numbers vary in length, either 8 digits or 12 digits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telephone numbers in Germany</span>

The regulation of telephone numbers in Germany is the responsibility of the Federal Network Agency of the German government. The agency has a mandate to telecommunications in Germany and other infrastructure systems.

National conventions for writing telephone numbers vary by country. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) publishes a recommendation entitled Notation for national and international telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and Web addresses. Recommendation E.123 specifies the format of telephone numbers assigned to telephones and similar communication endpoints in national telephone numbering plans.

0114 is the national dialling code for Sheffield in the United Kingdom. The area it serves includes almost all of the City of Sheffield and some adjacent areas. When STD codes were first introduced, Sheffield was assigned the mnemonic 0SH2, later changing to the corresponding numbers upon the introduction of All-Figure Dialling in the area. Instead of the expected 01742 code, Sheffield's area code changed to the current 0114 code on 16 April 1995, along with 4 other cities in England, as part of PhONEday. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of seven digits. The code is used at several telephone exchanges as part of a linked numbering scheme. In common with all other British area codes the initial '0' is a trunk prefix that is not required when dialling Sheffield from abroad.

Ranges for fictitious telephone numbers are common in most telephone numbering plans. One of the main reasons these ranges exist is to avoid accidentally using real phone numbers in movies and television programs because of viewers frequently calling the numbers used. In North America, the area served by the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) system of area codes, fictitious telephone numbers are usually of the form (XXX) 555-xxxx. The use of 555 numbers in fiction, however, led a desire to assign some of them in the real world, and some of them are no longer suitable for use in fiction. Other areas have different fictitious telephone numbers.

01708 is the national dialling code for Romford in the United Kingdom. The area it serves includes almost all of the London Borough of Havering and some adjacent areas. When STD codes were first introduced, Romford was assigned 0708 and 0402 was used for the rest of the current code area. After a sequence of changes in the early 1990s, culminating with PhONEday, the current 01708 code became active on 16 April 1995. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of six digits. The code is used at eight telephone exchanges as part a linked numbering scheme. In common with all other British area codes the initial '0' is a trunk prefix that is not required when dialling Romford from abroad.

Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom have a flexible structure that reflects their historical demands, starting from many independent companies through a nationalised near-monopoly, to a system that supports many different services, including cellular phones, which were not envisaged when the system was first built. Numbers evolved in a piecemeal fashion, with numbers initially allocated on an exchange-by-exchange basis for calls connected by manual operators. Subscriber numbers reflected demand in each area, with single digit telephone numbers in very rural areas and longer numbers in cities.

References

  1. Whitfield, Martin (1995-04-15). "BT braced for wrong-number barrage on Phoneday" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-26. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
  2. 1 2 "A brief history of recent UK telecoms and Oftel". Ofcom. 1999. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  3. "Maidenhead area telephone information". maidenhead.net. 13 September 2001. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  4. Erdunast, Howard (2003-05-16). "BT's Response to the Consultation by OFTEL on Proposals to Publish a National Telephone Numbering Plan" (PDF). British Telecommunications PLC. Retrieved 2010-04-02. Page 7: '01697 – Brampton should be 016977; not 01697'.
  5. Director General of Telecommunications (2003-07-09). "The National Telephone Numbering Plan" (PDF). Oftel. Office of Telecommunications. Retrieved 2010-04-02. Page 20 shows Brampton listed as 0169 77.
  6. "01753 area code". area-codes.org.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  7. Ofcom. "The National Numbering Scheme : Telephone Numbers administered by Ofcom". Office of Communications. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  8. Ofcom (1999). "The Big Number - your questions answered". Office of Communications. Retrieved 2012-09-25.