You may need an area code soon to phone a local landline as communications watchdog vows to scrap ‘no dialling code’ policy because ‘the public doesn’t want it’

• Part of review by Ofcom into future of UK phone numbers as landline use continues to dwindle
• Most households still have landline connection; just 54% of people use it for calls
• Ofcom found that many considered local dialling ‘only of marginal benefit’

Ringing a local landline number without dialling an area code could soon be a thing of the past.

Ofcom, the communications watchdog, believes the feature is no longer valued by the public and is proposing to remove it.

Phone companies are currently obliged to provide a local dialling facility letting someone call from a landline to another locally without dialling the five-digit code.

The move is part of a wider review by Ofcom into the future of UK telephone numbers as landline use continues to dwindle. 

Ringing a local landline number without dialling an area code could soon be a thing of the past. Ofcom, the communications watchdog, believes the feature is no longer valued by the public and is proposing to remove it. (File image)

Most households still have a landline connection but just 54 per cent of people use it for calls. 

Research by Ofcom found many considered local dialling ‘only of marginal benefit’. 

It found that while those who regularly used the feature, such as the elderly, may be confused by its removal, it would not be a significant disruption.

Ofcom said: ‘Usage of landline phones is in decline and so the use, value and knowledge of local dialling may be diminishing, particularly as phone users are more used to mobile phones.’ 

The move will first go to a consultation. Ofcom already closed the feature in several areas in 2014. 

As mobile calls have risen, landline calls fell by more than 60 per cent in the past seven years.

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