Users wishing to place and receive Voice over IP calls through their broadband service will be able to have their own number in the future, as outlined in Ofcom’s proposal just issued. The proposal is intended to simplify access to VoB services, and distinguish them from other more traditional services.
05 is currently reserved for corporate PABX systems, and it’s Ofcom’s proposal that 055 is used for corporate VoB services, whilst 056 will tend to be more for residential customers.
Ofcom are against geographically dependent numbers – and we heartily agree that a numbering scheme that varies from town to town makes no sense for a system that is not so dependent on the location of a physical exchange, especially since users may want to pick up calls whilst travelling.