Telephone numbering

New equipment and services, more companies offering telephony, and increased consumer demand are starting to overload the UK’s telephone numbering scheme. To remedy this, the Office of Telecommunications (OFTEL) has proposed that all telephone numbers should be increased by one digit from Easter 1994. There is however disagreement on the costs and implications of such a move and whether more efficient management could release the numbers required with less cost and disruption.

This POSTnote examines the technical requirements of a national telephone numbering scheme and related issues.