Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Before the UK Calling changes, calls to ‘Freephone’ numbers were generally free when called from a landline, however mobile users were usually charged for calling them. The 1 July legislation made all calls to 0800 and 0808 numbers free for consumers to dial from mobile phones, just as they are from landlines. [7]
Major mobile phone operators went through a period of charging callers to dial most freephone numbers from around 2005 onwards - but this practice largely ceased on 1 July 2015 as 0800 and 0808 numbers became universally free to call from mobiles and landlines due to changes in Ofcom legislation.
The 0800 range can have NSN length as 10, 9, or 7 digits. The 0845 range can have NSN length as 10 or 7 digits. The 0500 range had NSN length as 9 digits only, and was withdrawn from use on 3 June 2017. All other UK numbers have NSN length of 10 digits. There are no telephone numbers in the UK with an NSN length of 8 digits.
0800 was Tongue (TO0) – numbers were transferred to 0847 (ELNS) [notes 14] 0800 later used for BT Freefone numbers - usage of BT 9-digit 0800 numbers continued after the Big Number Change; all new 0800 allocations have 10 digits and multiple operators now issue 0800 numbers. 01801 — unused
Until the mid-1980s freephone numbers could be accessed only by ringing the operator on 100 and asking to be connected, e.g. Freephone 8963 for BT customer service. From 1985, the 0800 code came into use for freephone services. [19] These numbers usually had 10 digits, but a few exceptions had only 8 digits, e.g. 0800 1111 for ChildLine.
In the Netherlands, the prefix "0800" is used for toll-free numbers. Calling 0800-numbers from fixed and mobile phones is free by law. UIFN's "00800" are generally free from fixed lines and charged for the airtime from mobile phones. UIFN access is not enforced by law, causing certain phone providers not to honor the standard.
Before 1 July 2015, calls to 0800 and 0808 numbers were chargeable when called from most contract and pay-as-you-go mobile telephones. [2] Calls to 0500 numbers remained chargeable from mobile telephones [ 3 ] until closure of this range on 3 June 2017.
Gaps were left within each of those new 10-digit number ranges to allow for the older 9-digit 02 to 09 numbers to migrate in the Big Number Change. Freephone numbers were an exception. Older 9-digit 0500 and 0800 numbers, as well as newer 10-digit 0800 and 0808 numbers, all remained in use after the Big Number Change.