London is set to gain 10 million new landline phone numbers this year with the launch of a new “0204” dialling code.
The capital’s area code changed to “020” in 2000 — with 30 million phone numbers since allocated across the existing (020) 3, 7, and 8 range. But communications regulator Ofcom says it now has fewer than a million of the numbers left to offer phone companies.
And with 30,000 London numbers being handed out each week, it says its new 0204 range will help cope with demand.
“We’re seeing a growing need for 020 numbers, as London expands and new homes and offices are built,” said Ofcom’s head of numbering Liz Greenberg. “These 10 million new numbers will allow us to meet demand and help keep the capital connected.”The latest expansion of London’s telephone codes follows a steady change in their look over more than 70 years. In 1958, the capital was allocated the single code 01, which remained until 1990 when it was replaced with 071 for inner London numbers and 081 for outer London numbers.
Five years after that, all UK area codes gained an extra 1 after the 0. In 2000, sweeping changes to the system saw the 020 code introduced across both inner and outer boroughs using 7 and 8 before 3 endings were launched in 2005. Ofcom says that despite the proliferation of mobile and smartphones, Brits still spend more than 44 billion minutes making landline calls each year.
