Dialling (020) 3 for London - As London 020 7 and 020 8 numbers become increasingly hard to find Ofcom has launched a new range of London telephone numbers, starting with (020) 3. These are being used alongside the existing (020) 7 and (020) 8 numbers to increase capacity.

  They are to be given out to some residential and business customers who put in a new lines or apply for a new telephone number range for VoIP services and were avaiable from the autumn of 2005 onwards.

If you've got a (020) 7 or (020) 8 number - don't worry. You do not have to change your number. All you need to remember is that when you see an (020) 3 telephone number, it's a London number, just like (020) 7 and (020) 8 - and of course the cost of a call is the same.

Section 56 of the Communications Act 2003 requires Ofcom to publish a National Telephone Numbering Plan and to review that Plan as required; Section 63 of the Act requires Ofcom to seek the best use of appropriate telephone numbers and to encourage efficiency and innovation.

Ofcom has introduced the extra (020) 3 numbers because London is growing, and more people and businesses want additional telephone numbers. Please find more information below on how Ofcom will allocate the additional (020) 3 numbers to telecoms companies - who will then in turn allocate these to their customers.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/telecoms/reports/numresearch/london_telephone/