Hi, I have been trying to find out how much a 0208 number costs to call? I've Googled it, but the outcome was confusing. I've not heard of this code before, seems strange as its not an 01 before the number. The full number is 0208 2079094 its a direct number to an insurance team that someone gave me, to save going through the main switchboard. Thank you.

020 numbers cost the same as an 01 number to ring from a landline or a mobile.

01, 02 and 03 numbers are all charged at the same rate. Also they  are included in calling plans.


0208 is the code for outer London
0207 is the code for inner London

sherbert wrote on Jul 26^th, 2010 at 12:05pm:

0208 is the code for outer London 0207 is the code for inner London

You mean 020 7 and 020 8 ;)

jgxenite wrote on Jul 26^th, 2010 at 12:11pm:

You mean 020 7 and 020 8 ;)

:-[ :-[

Thanks for such a quick reply, I was getting bogged down with various jargon when googlin. Much appreciated. Never thought would be same cost as 01 numbers. I didn't add that I'm on a BT line, don't suppose that makes any difference to the answer?

Nope, it's a normal geographic number so will cost the same.

Thanks very much :-)

saffy wrote on Jul 26^th, 2010 at 12:18pm:

Thanks for such a quick reply, I was getting bogged down with various jargon when googlin. Much appreciated. Never thought would be same cost as 01 numbers. I didn't add that I'm on a BT line, don't suppose that makes any difference to the answer?

This must be the first time you have called anyone in London? ;)

Yes it probably is!  :DAlthough, all 0845 numbers now, so never know where you are actually ringing geographically, not like the old days:-)

saffy wrote on Jul 26^th, 2010 at 12:01pm:

Hi, I have been trying to find out how much a 0208 number costs to call? I've Googled it, but the outcome was confusing. I've not heard of this code before, seems strange as its not an 01 before the number. The full number is 0208 2079094 its a direct number to an insurance team that someone gave me, to save going through the main switchboard. Thank you.

I see that this number isn't listed in our database. I hope that if it's an alternative to a 08 number, then you will let us know so it can be added. Do that by posting or the forum or sending me a personal message.

Also, the STD (area) code for London is 020 and not 0208. The digit 8 is part of the local number, and it is customary to put a space between code and local number, i.e. (020) 8207 9094. Brackets indicate that the code is unnecessary for those dialling from within the same area. They are frequently omitted, and it's not a great issue if they're not put in.

sherbert wrote on Jul 26^th, 2010 at 12:05pm:

0208 is the code for outer London 0207 is the code for inner London

It's more than ten years since the inner/outer split was abolished.

London has a single code: 020.  Local numbers have eight digits.

catj wrote on Sep 14^th, 2010 at 12:44am:

sherbert wrote on Jul 26th, 2010 at 12:05pm: 0208 is the code for outer London 0207 is the code for inner London It's more than ten years since the inner/outer split was abolished. London has a single code: 020.  Local numbers have eight digits.

Indeed it went from :

01 to 071/081 to 0171/0181 to 020 7/8 ... quite a nightmare really, and not one of Ofcoms best attempts. Oh an don't forget the "new" 3 numbers, that is: 020 3

All to do with how many people in London needed a number.

More on the subject here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_telephone_code_misconceptions

CJT-80 wrote on Sep 14^th, 2010 at 10:07am:

01 to 071/081 to 0171/0181 to 020 7/8 ... quite a nightmare really, and not one of Ofcoms best attempts. Oh an don't forget the "new" 3 numbers, that is: 020 3

Of course this was in fact down to Ofcom's equally useless parent, OFTEL, but you would think that they could have got it right the first time round by just going straight to eight figure London numbers and having left out all the nonsense with separate codes for inner and outer London.

To make matters worse they have then vastly compounded the error by doing nothing to properly educate the public that there is now only a single London code and no such thing as 0207 and 0208.

I had the same problem as I was not use to the 0208 0207 numbers, they now have a new number set to which is the 0203 numbers which is supposed where they are going forward.

Welcome to the forum :)

I think you will find that London besides having the 0207 and 0208 numbers they have had the 0203 for sometime see here.....

http://0203number.com/

Used for businesses I believe

jogreen68 wrote on Oct 14^th, 2010 at 3:35pm:

I had the same problem as I was not use to the 0208 0207 numbers, they now have a new number set to which is the 0203 numbers which is supposed where they are going forward.

It is customary to refer to STD area codes one their own, and if this were the done, then it would be clear to see that this is merely allocation of new local London numbers.

The code for London is 020 !! 0207 and 0208 have never been STD codes for London.

A number which starts with the digits 0203 is therefore a 020 number, just as those that start 0207 and 0208. I omit the spaces here as that is the preferred format of some people.

The majority of Greater London's local numbers (those beginning 020) are eight digits, just as those for Portsmouth and Southampton (023), Coventry (024), Northern Ireland (028) and Cardiff (029).

When a new local number is encountered which starts with a new digit never before used by a subscriber (e.g. a new local number which starts 2 where no existing ones start 2), does it cause gross confusion? No.

Are people confused about mobile numbers beginning 075 simply because they are relatively new?



sherbert wrote on Oct 14^th, 2010 at 4:18pm:

Used for businesses I believe

Residential premises tend only to have a single number (or multiple ones which aren't similar). Telephone companies (typically BT and Virgin Media, or cable) have blocks of numbers which they re-use.

The reason that the (020) 3 numbers are used by corporate organisations is because residential operators already have blocks of numbers from which they issue numbers individually. Corporate users frequently require hundreds or thousands of consecutive numbers and it stands to reason that these can only come from blocks of numbers that don't have the odd number given out to individual subscribers.

Quote:

Of course this was in fact down to Ofcom's equally useless parent, OFTEL, but you would think that they could have got it right the first time round by just going straight to eight figure London numbers and having left out all the nonsense with separate codes for inner and outer London.

They had to move London out of 01 in 1990, so that 01 was free to move every geographic code into in 1995. The move to 071/081 in 1990 doubled the capacity for London, right at the time it was really needed.

However, they shouldn't have moved London from 071/081 to 0171/0181 in 1995, they should have waited a few years and then gone straight to 020.

catj wrote on Nov 28^th, 2010 at 12:23am:

However, they shouldn't have moved London from 071/081 to 0171/0181 in 1995, they should have waited a few years and then gone straight to 020.

That would have lead to confusion that London's codes had changed from 071 and 081 to 0171 and 0181, respectively because the point of "PhONEday" (in 1995) was to insert a 1 after the national trunk dialling prefix for STD codes.

In that case the instructions in 1995 would have been:

"all geographic numbers except London numbers are changing by adding a 1. London already changed to new codes a few years ago."

catj wrote on Nov 28^th, 2010 at 7:47pm:

In that case the instructions in 1995 would have been: "all geographic numbers except London numbers are changing by adding a 1. London already changed to new codes a few years ago."

... and everybody would have been happy with that!!

There may have one or two people who might have been hoping to be able to change their telephone number databases on a mass basis.

The odd moaner may have asked "why do we have to change our numbers when those in London do not?".

There may have been a few cases where people forgot that London had not changed and mis-dialled.

Some switchboard systems may have implemented a ban on calls to numbers beginning 07 to stop calls to mobiles and cut off Central London as well.

Oftel's attempts to sell stakeholders a new clear national numbering scheme would have been a little undermined by a couple of additional exceptions.

There may have been one or two minor other concerns, but one should not nit-pick.

Those concerns would all have been short term, as London would still have needed to move to the 2+8 format, with 020 area code, in 2000 anyway.  It wasn't until 2001 that the last of the mobile and NGN fixes were implemented. In 1995, mobile prefixes were still 0402, 0802, 0973 and many others.


With London missing out the 0171/0181 step, the overall process would have been a lot more clear and easier to explain:

1990: Get London out of 01 ready for the next step. Also gives London a short-term capacity increase.

1995: Get everywhere else into 01. This allows for mobiles, NGN and Premium to each have distinct prefixes later.

2000: Move London to 020 to give the needed long-term London capacity increase.
2001: Fix the mobile, NGN and Premium prefixes as 07, 08 and 09.