All change for phone numbers - again

Just when you got used to the new numbers - it is time to change again

Telephone numbers in six areas of the UK are set to be changed again because the country is running out of numbers.

From April 2000, people in Cardiff, Coventry, London, Northern Ireland, Portsmouth and Southampton will get new area codes.

They will all begin with 02 followed by another digit.

Londoners who currently use the 0171 and 0181 codes will change to a combined single 020 area code for the whole capital.

In addition, all adult telephone services, including sex lines, will have to use the new 0909 code.

Six areas will initially get new dialling codes

Despite their usual competitive nature, the telephone companies have banded together to create a steering group to tell people exactly how the second big change in seven years will affect them.

They say there is no guarantee that there will not be further code changes for other parts of the country in the first decade of the next millennium.

PhOneDay, in April 1995, laid the ground for the new changes.

By putting a "1" in every code in the land, the path was opened up for future changes and more prefixes - meaning that 01, 02, 03 and so on can be allocated for different uses.

Heavy demand

The reason for the changes is simply that the country is gradually running out of numbers.

This is because of the steady growth of telephone connections and the huge increase in demand for computer connections to the Internet.

Those affected by the change are rapidly approaching "number capacity" but other rural areas are unlikely to reach that level of demand for another 30 years or more.

Growing towns and cities of a similar size, like Portsmouth or Cardiff, however may also have to change to a new 02 code in future years.

Oftel, the telecoms regulator, says it cannot predict how demand in certain areas will change.

Peter Clark, chairman of the National Code and Number Change steering group, said the new prefixes would give parents and employers greater control over certain telephone services like sex lines.

They will be able to place a bar on all 0909 numbers.

"As well as giving us more numbers, the changes will group UK codes into clear and understandable families," he said.

Firms fear disruption

A spokesman for London Chamber of Commerce said he was "concerned" about the number changes in the capital.

"Although business is helping the telecoms industry with these changes, we are concerned that they will be very disruptive to firms in London and around the country.

"We have known about these changes since January last year, and yet it is only now that we are getting some concrete information about them."