Ofcom confirms plans to safeguard the supply of UK telephone numbers

Ofcom has today outlined how it plans to safeguard the future supply of landline numbers across the UK. The plans will avoid the need to change existing phone numbers and will mean consumers and businesses continue to enjoy the widest choice of providers. Currently, Ofcom allocates 01 and 02 telephone numbers to around 300 communications providers free of charge in large blocks. These companies then use the numbers to provide services to homes, businesses and other organisations. The number of communications providers has increased significantly over the last six years, leading to more competition and cheaper landline bills for millions of homes and businesses. But it has also led to increased pressure on the supply of phone numbers as well as some communications providers holding a significant quantity of unused numbers. Ofcom has today confirmed that it will manage future demand for phone numbers from new and existing communications providers by introducing local area code dialing in places where numbers are very scarce. Here to read more.