11 November 2026
What is an 0330 number, and what does it cost to call one?
An 0330 number costs the same to call as an ordinary 01 or 02 landline, from a mobile as well, and comes out of inclusive minutes. Here is the rule, who set it, and when a business should choose one over a local number.
£9.99 a monthUp to 300 minutes a month to a UK mobile included, then 5p a minute.Pick a number
An 0330 number is a UK phone number that does not belong to any town. It costs the same to call as an ordinary landline number beginning 01 or 02, it is included in the free minutes on a mobile or landline plan in exactly the same way, and the business that owns it earns nothing from the call. That is the whole answer, and the rest of this page is where it comes from and what to do with it.
The rule is Ofcom's, the UK's communications regulator, and it has been in place since the 03 range opened in 2007. Its guidance on 03 numbers comes in two parts: a call to one may not be priced above an ordinary call to an 01 or 02 number, and it has to come out of your inclusive minutes whenever a call to an 01 or 02 number would. It applies whatever you ring from: a mobile, a BT line, another provider's line or a payphone. So if your mobile plan includes calls to landlines, ringing an 0330 number comes out of that allowance; if it doesn't, you pay whatever your network charges for a normal landline call, and not a penny more for the 03.
The second half of the rule is the part that makes 03 different from 084 and 087. Ofcom does not allow revenue sharing on 03 numbers: the organisation you are ringing cannot take a cut of what you pay for the call. The old 0845 and 0870 numbers could, which is how they earned their reputation, and it is why so many banks, councils and utilities moved to 03 numbers that end in the same digits. An 03 number is a company saying it is not making money out of you ringing it.
There are several kinds of 03 number and they all follow the same price rule. 0300 numbers are set aside for public bodies and charities. 0330 and 0333 are open to any business. 0344, 0345, 0370 and 0371 exist mainly so that organisations with an old 084 or 087 number could move to the matching 03 one. For a small business choosing a new number, 0330 is the ordinary one.
Should your business have one? It depends on where your customers think you are. A local number — an 0161 for Manchester, an 020 for London — tells people you are nearby, and for a trade that works one patch that is worth having: people ring the local number first. An 0330 number says the opposite, on purpose. It suits a business that serves the whole country, one that works across several towns and does not want to look as if it belongs to only one of them, or one that expects to move and does not want the number to give the old address away. It also never needs changing if you do move.
One honest caution. Some callers still see a number beginning 03 and think of the expensive 08 numbers it replaced. The fix costs nothing: wherever you print the number, put a short line beside it — "calls cost the same as 01 and 02 numbers" — which is the wording a great many organisations use, and it is simply true.
With us an 0330 number costs the same as a local one: £9.99 a month, with no connection fee and no contract. It rings your mobile like any other call — no app, no desk phone — and if you can't answer, the voicemail is emailed to you, and the transcript follows in a second email. Up to 300 minutes a month to a UK mobile included, then 5p a minute. Your number goes live once your details are checked, usually within a working day — we email you the moment it does.