UK Area Codes and Phone Number Information

09 numbers

Premium rate service numbers

What are 09 numbers?

All UK telephone numbers beginning with the digits 09 are service numbers. These phone numbers are charged at a higher rate than normal, with part of the call cost used to pay for the service being provided.

Common uses for service numbers include:

09 number call costs

The cost of calling an 09 number includes a service charge of up to £3.60 per minute and/or £6.00 per call which is used to fund the service provided, on top of a standard access charge made by the caller's phone company.

A wide range of charges is in operation and many numbers operate much lower charges than the maximums quoted above.

Whenever a service number beginning with 09 is advertised, the service charge that applies should be clearly shown.

Premium rate number prefixes

The following groups of numbers are currently in use for premium rate services:

Number rangeUsed for
0900 numbersRegular premium rate services
0901 numbersRegular premium rate services
0902 numbersRegular premium rate services
0903 numbersRegular premium rate services
0904 numbersRegular premium rate services
0905 numbersRegular premium rate services
0906 numbersRegular premium rate services
0907 numbersRegular premium rate services
0908 numbersServices with adult / sexual content
0909 numbersServices with adult / sexual content
0911 numbersRegular premium rate services
0912 numbersRegular premium rate services
0913 numbersRegular premium rate services
0982 numbersServices with adult / sexual content
0983 numbersServices with adult / sexual content
0984 numbersServices with adult / sexual content
0989 numbersServices with adult / sexual content

History of 09 numbers

Premium rate numbers beginning with '09' were introduced in 1998, eventually replacing a variety of older prefixes such as 0331, 0660, 0891, 0898 and 0991. The first prefixes issued in 1998 were 0900, 0901, 0906, 0907 and 0909.

Adult services with sexual content were originally confined to the 0909 prefix, later expanding into 0908. Since 2005, all new services of this type use numbers beginning with '098', to aid recognition.

Further information

The Phone-paid Services Authority regulates 09 numbers that have a service charge of more than 7p per minute or 7p per call, as well as all 09 numbers used for chatlines, adult services and internet dialers. Their website can identify premium rate numbers and advise further on costs.

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