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UK mobile phone numbers hellscape

In 05 as far as I know from memory there are 0500 numbers (former Mercury's free phone number range, there's still a few in use) and 055 for voip numbers allocated.

The 055 range hasn't been popular because the 055 number range looks odd to most people so they assume it's scammy, inbound calls to 055 are typically not included in bundled minutes, although it can be useful when you need to give a number to someone but you don't really want them to call you.

As far as I know all of 04 and 06 are available for use and most of 05. And plenty of room in 08 which is for specially tariffed services which is kinda a good fit for those not quite mobile numbers hiding in plain sight in 07.

The 04 range used to be used for mobile numbers as well, iirc I had an 0411 and an 0489 number which were on Cellnet.
 
The 04 range used to be used for mobile numbers as well, iirc I had an 0411 and an 0489 number which were on Cellnet.
Those 04 codes were pre-PhONEday number allocations, just the same as High Wycombe was 0494.

When PhONEday happened in 1995 ish and the UK moved from 10 digit to 11 digit numbers, most geo codes went from 0xxx to 01xxx, some cities and areas got special treatment with 011x or 02 codes because they needed longer local numbers and all the existing mobile codes like those you highlighted were booted into 07, non-geo stuff like 0990 into 08 (and subsequently shuffled into 03) and premium like 0898 into 09.

Since PhONEday there was been no use of 04, 06 and most of 05. And there's plenty of space in 08 special tariff and 09 premium.

I think 0411 became 07711...
 
The 04 range used to be used for mobile numbers as well, iirc I had an 0411 and an 0489 number which were on Cellnet.
Didn't know that mobile numbers were on 04x, I know that our local area code years ago was 0452

I vaguely recall seeing an 04 number on a poster that someone I know has for a Beres Hammond concert which I believe was post 1995. Not sure what it's really used for.
 
Didn't know that mobile numbers were on 04x, I know that our local area code years ago was 0452

I vaguely recall seeing an 04 number on a poster that someone I know has for a Beres Hammond concert which I believe was post 1995. Not sure what it's really used for.

Did a bit of digging, my second number would have been 0589 rather than 0489 (though I managed to remember the 0411 correctly).

One2one and Orange had numbers in the 09xx range as well.

Old mobile codes

0370 Vodafone
0374 Vodafone
0378 Vodafone
0385 Vodafone
0401 BT Cellnet
0402 BT Cellnet
0403 BT Cellnet
0410 BT Cellnet
0411 BT Cellnet
0421 Vodafone
0441 Vodafone
0467 Vodafone
0468 Vodafone
0498 Vodafone
0585 BT Cellnet
0589 BT Cellnet
0802 BT Cellnet
0831 Vodafone
0836 Vodafone
0850 BT Cellnet
0860 BT Cellnet
0941 Orange
0956 One2One
0958 One2One
0961 One2One
0966 Orange
0973 Orange
0976 Orange
 
An interesting retrospective on pagers from 1997. I particularly like the response from Ofcom's predecessor Oftel!

 
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Yeh, in the late 90s there were pagers that were very low cost to buy and run but with high costs to send messages. Other pagers did exist that were on a monthly contract basis where message deposit via a bureau or dial up into their modem interface were cheap.

Most consumers chose the low cost to buy option. They walked into their local Dixons or Rymans (other retailers were available) with nice shiny pagers on the shelf for a few 10s of pounds and all of a sudden they could be upwardly mobile and contactable by this wireless wizardry without forking out for a mobile phone which was still pricy. Some of them coupled the pager with a Rabbit phone which only did outbound calls if you were near a Rabbit base station which you could then use to respond to your pager message. The consumers rarely wanted to page themselves and therefore the cost of sending the messages didn't factor highly in their purchasing decision.
 
I assume the line is o/g barred but you have dial tone.

If 150 – BT Residential Customer Services doesn't work then you could try 152 – BT Business Customer Services

If its an Openreach line then 17070 – Line test service, replacing 174 and 175 (confirms phone number before menu options). This number should work on all networks (BT, Sky, etc), although the options given may be different.

If you get the number then you can select any ISP and state it in the order so they port the number. However since you have not presumably used this line then you don't actually need this. If you need a voice facility then you can get that from many ISPs or third party VoIP providers and get a new number.

Your address will determine what broadband type is available and whether you will be provided voice over the physical line or a VoIP/VoBB alternative. More likely the latter now (some ISPs still using LLU) even if the broadband is provided over the copper telephone line.
 
I've just moved into a new rental property, and the telephone line is already connected, but I'm unsure who the provider is. Dialing 150 results in no response. I've asked the estate agent to check with the landlord, who is currently abroad and unreachable. I need to get the line sorted and connected to broadband urgently as I work from home and am moving in this weekend. I'm flexible with the provider since my rental agreement prohibits changing providers without permission. I just need to identify the current provider and get them to set up broadband services promptly. Can anyone offer any assistance or advice?

What does your lease say? If you're responsible for paying the phone bill then you should probably sign up with a provider -- switching is gaining provider led so you don't need to know who the existing provider is. Unfortunately it's common to be without a phone service for the first few days in a new home, unless you've managed to set up a switch in advance.
 
The 150 query is a bit off-topic, do you want me to split it into a separate thread?
 
I've just moved into a new rental property, and the telephone line is already connected, but I'm unsure who the provider is. Dialing 150 results in no response. I've asked the estate agent to check with the landlord, who is currently abroad and unreachable. I need to get the line sorted and connected to broadband urgently as I work from home and am moving in this weekend. I'm flexible with the provider since my rental agreement prohibits changing providers without permission. I just need to identify the current provider and get them to set up broadband services promptly. Can anyone offer any assistance or advice?
17070 should give you the phone number read back to you
 
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From Spusu, A&A, and Xpatfone.

I just ported a Three-MVNO number to Xpatfone (Devyce) and the termination charge is now normal (around 1p per minute). So I may eventually port my main number over and free myself from roaming purgatory and I can just use any data sim that works best wherever, whenever, never have to port my number if my sim packs up.
 
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