# Is the 203 area code in UK a normal number? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2013, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164 "2013-02-13T08:43:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164/1 "2013-02-13T08:43:48Z")
Or is it some premium rate phone?, thanks ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164/2 "2013-02-13T09:06:54Z")
Area codes in the UK aren’t always 3 digits, so if you post the whole (or at least the first half) of the the number, it would be easier to tell what sort of number it is. Having said that, my guess is that you are calling a London (020) landline, which is a regular phone, not premium rate. Premium rate numbers in the UK start with 084, 087 or 090. > **[Premium-rate telephone number | United Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premium-rate_telephone_number#United_Kingdom)** > > Premium rate numbers in the United Kingdom have a two-part call charge, following regulatory reform in July 2015. The cost of calling such numbers is always a total of the following elements: > 1.An 'Access Charge' which is set by the caller's own telephone company. This varies considerably by company, from 2p-15p per minute from landlines or 5p-58p per minute from mobile phones. | > 2.A 'Service Charge' that benefits the organisation being called and/or its telecoms supplier. The same charge appli... ---
**Author:** ![martu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@martu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martu)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164/3 "2013-02-13T09:21:26Z")
0203 numbers are being used in London now as they have run out 0208 numbers, I know this as my in-laws recently moved and were given an 0203 number. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164/4 "2013-02-13T09:57:22Z")
> [@martu](#): > > 0203 numbers are being used in London now as they have run out 0208 numbers, I know this as my in-laws recently moved and were given an 0203 number. Minor nitpick (which still has the power to annoy me slightly): London has got 020 3xxx xxxx numbers, and these have been in use since about 2005. 0207 and 0208 are not London codes, 020 is the London code, and has been since 2000. > **[020](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/020)** > > 020 is the national dialling code for London in the United Kingdom. All subscriber numbers within the area code consist of eight digits and it has capacity for approaching 100 million telephone numbers. The code is used at 170 telephone exchanges in and around Greater London as part of the largest linked numbering scheme in the United Kingdom. In common with all other British area codes the initial '0' is a trunk prefix that is not required when dialling London from abroad. > The 020 area code ... You’d think people would change over by now, but apparently not. You’d also think I’d accept the inevitability of people listing numbers as 0207 and 0208, but apparently not. I will continue to fight the good fight, and rage, rage against incorrectly listed phone numbers! It would seem that someone at Wikipedia shares my goals, since they have taken the trouble to put together this article: [UK telephone code misconceptions - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_telephone_code_misconceptions) > [@](#): > > The telephone area code for most of Greater London and some surrounding areas is 020, not “0207”, “0208” or “0203”. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164/5 "2013-02-13T10:03:42Z")
Yes the number is 44 20339xxxx without the zero because calling from outside UK. Correct? ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164/6 "2013-02-13T10:31:18Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > Yes the number is 44 20339xxxx without the zero because calling from outside UK. Correct? Yes. As pointed out above, “020” is the area code for London, which is a normal, non-premium rate. So to phone that number from the US, you would dial 011-44-20-339x-xxxx Within the UK you would dial: 020-339x-xxxx (Note that London phone numbers are eight digits long.) ---
**Author:** ![martu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@martu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martu)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164/7 "2013-02-13T11:41:06Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Minor nitpick (which still has the power to annoy me slightly): London has got 020 3xxx xxxx numbers, and these have been in use since about 2005. 0207 and 0208 are not London codes, 020 is the London code, and has been since 2000. > > [020 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/020) > > You’d think people would change over by now, but apparently not. You’d also think I’d accept the inevitability of people listing numbers as 0207 and 0208, but apparently not. I will continue to fight the good fight, and rage, rage against incorrectly listed phone numbers! > > It would seem that someone at Wikipedia shares my goals, since they have taken the trouble to put together this article: [UK telephone code misconceptions - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_telephone_code_misconceptions) Bravo such passion about telephone numbers, I doff my cap to you Sir/Madam! Thanks for the correction. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164/8 "2013-02-13T11:49:03Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Minor nitpick (which still has the power to annoy me slightly): London has got 020 3xxx xxxx numbers, and these have been in use since about 2005. 0207 and 0208 are not London codes, 020 is the London code, and has been since 2000. > [snip] I’m with you on this. More than a decade after the numbers changed, you still see “0207” and “0208” all over the place. Even London newspapers [reported](http://www.standard.co.uk/news/0203-to-be-third-telephone-code-7233279.html) the introduction of 3xxx xxxx numbers as “yet another new area code change for London” and tried to whip up outrage, when the whole point of switching to a shorter code and longer numbers was that you would massively increase the pool of numbers available. How did they think changing “0171” to “0207” and “0181” to “0208” would make more numbers available? :smack: Having said that, the number change was communicated incredibly badly at the time. It was made more difficult because, for a while during the changeover, you could dial the whole number using the new format, e.g. “020 7xxx xxxx” or the old format, “0171 xxx xxxx”, but you couldn’t use the new local number (7xxx xxxx) on its own - if you wanted to use the local number you had to use the old one (xxx xxxx). That led people to assume that the 7 was part of the code. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164/9 "2013-02-13T13:39:04Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Minor nitpick (which still has the power to annoy me slightly): London has got 020 3xxx xxxx numbers, and these have been in use since about 2005. 0207 and 0208 are not London codes, 020 is the London code, and has been since 2000. > > [020 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/020) > > You’d think people would change over by now, but apparently not. You’d also think I’d accept the inevitability of people listing numbers as 0207 and 0208, but apparently not. I will continue to fight the good fight, and rage, rage against incorrectly listed phone numbers! > > It would seem that someone at Wikipedia shares my goals, since they have taken the trouble to put together this article: [UK telephone code misconceptions - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_telephone_code_misconceptions) We’ve got the same problem on the south coast - Southampton changed from 01703 to 023 80~\* and Portsmouth changed from 01705 to 023 92~\* (\*initially - with a view to extension). I guess you can’t blame people for misunderstanding this - Joe Public whose number was 01703 123456 got the message that it was changing to 023 8012 3456 - he remembers that sometime in the past the prefix changed from 0703 to 01703, and he knows his own phone number to be 123456. He perceives this as just another change of prefix. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-203-area-code-in-uk-a-normal-number/650164/10 "2013-02-13T16:06:09Z")
> [@Blue\_Mood](#): > > Yes. As pointed out above, “020” is the area code for London, which is a normal, non-premium rate. So to phone that number from the US, you would dial > 011-44-20-339x-xxxx Or, on a mobile phone, the “+” works, too, instead of the 011. I would dial the number +44 20 339x xxxx. International numbers are usually given in this format, and I assume the “+” is supposed to stand in for your locality’s “exit code.”