What an 070 number is
The National Telephone Numbering Plan sets 070 aside for personal numbering services: a single number through which someone can be reached at almost any other number, including a mobile. The person called decides where calls are forwarded, and can change it.
Ofcom’s guidance on acceptable use gives examples of legitimate services: people in internet chat rooms who want to talk without giving out their real number, someone selling a car through a magazine advert, and hospital patients given their own number for their stay.
In Ofcom’s files of 11 November 2026, 733 blocks of 070 numbers are allocated, to 78 phone companies. The company holding a block is not the person using a number in it.
What it costs to call one
Ofcom’s call costs guide says calls to 070 numbers can be more expensive than calls to mobiles. Some phone companies include them in call allowances; others charge around 50p a minute from a landline or 86p a minute from a mobile. Check your own provider’s price list before calling.
Why Ofcom says not to call back
Ofcom’s advice after a suspicious call is not to call back a number you do not recognise, especially one beginning 070, 076, 084, 087, 090, 091 or 118, because these can be premium rate and run up high call costs. They are among the numbers used in missed call scams, where a phone rings once so that you call back.
076 numbers
The Numbering Plan designates 076 for radiopaging services, not for mobile phones. The exception is 07624: those are mobile and paging numbers for the Isle of Man, and no new 07624 blocks are being allocated. Ofcom’s files list 127 allocated 076 blocks.
Ofcom’s call costs guide gives no typical price for 076 numbers, and Ofcom names them among the ranges that can be premium rate.
How to tell them from a mobile
| Starts with | What it is |
|---|---|
| 070 | Personal number (forwards calls) |
| 071 to 075 | Mobile |
| 076 | Radiopaging (07624: Isle of Man mobiles) |
| 077 to 079 | Mobile |