Telephone numbers in Singapore digits. Five digits were introduced in 1960s, whereas 5-digit and 6-digit phone numbers were introduced in 1960s as fixed lines grew, but in that year, these changed to seven digits as the introduction of new towns arose (Tampines, Jurong East, Bukit Batok, Yishun and Hougang) and a large number of new numbers were required. Rationalisation was based on geographical locale over the 12 years. In 1995, the digit '9' was added to the front of mobiland pager numbers, making numbers eight digits, and on 1 March 2002, the digit '6' was added to the front of existing fixed line telephone
Non-geographic telephone numbers in the United Kingdom the prefixes 0321, 0500 and 0800 were all in use and allocated to Vodafone, Mercury Communications and BT respectively. Typically, the relevant prefix was followed by a six-digit number, giving a total number length of ten digits including the initial '0'. Increased competition and a shortage of the popular 0800 numbers in the early 1990s saw various strategies employed to increase freephone capacity. Newly issued 0800 numbers were lengthened to include seven digits after the 0800 prefix, and the additional 0808 prefix was introduced during 1997. Also during the 1990s, deregulation allowed companies other than BT to acquire 0800 numbers