Abstract :
Numbering volatility in telecommunications is a by-product of progress from a monopoly telephone service to the multiservice, open market of the 1990s and the next century. The last twenty years have seen much number changing activity, including the London code change of 1990. A national code change is scheduled for 1995. The paper presents an understanding of these developments, and investigates personal numbering, branding, portability, and other issues which will be topical throughout the rest of the decade