Area code 01202 is the telephone area code for the town of Bournemouth, located in the county of Dorset in England.
Locations using the 01202 area code
- Boscombe
- Bournemouth
- Broadstone
- Canford Cliffs
- Christchurch
- Ferndown
- Lytchett Minster
- Northbourne
- Parkstone
- Poole
- Southbourne
- Verwood
- Westbourne
- Wimborne Minster
- Winton
When is it necessary to use the 01202 Bournemouth dialling code?
If you are calling from a mobile phone or landline outside of the 01202 Bournemouth area code, you will need to use the dialling code. However, if you are calling a local number within the same area code with a landline telephone, you do not need to use the 01202 dialling code.
If you are calling from outside of the UK, you will need to add the international dialling code for your country, followed by the UK country code (44) and the area code without the initial zero (01202).
| Region | International Prefix | Phone Number | Phone Number to Dial |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States and Canada | 011 | 01202 402381 | 011 44 1202 402381 |
| Europe | 00 | 01202 466720 | 00 44 1202 466720 |
| Australia | 0011 | 01202 022439 | 0011 44 1202 022439 |
Locations (codes) near the 01202 code
- Amesbury 01980 area code is about 31 miles to the North-northeast
- Blandford Forum 01258 area code is about 16 miles to the West-northwest
- Cerne Abbas 01300 area code is about 27 miles to the West
- Dorchester 01305 area code is about 25 miles to the West
- Fareham 01329 area code is about 32 miles to the East
- Isle of Wight 01983 area code is about 25 miles to the East
- Lymington 01590 area code is about 15 miles to the East
- Ringwood 01425 area code is about 10 miles to the Northeast
- Rockbourne 01725 area code is about 17 miles to the North
- Romsey 01794 area code is about 25 miles to the Northeast
- Salisbury 01722 area code is about 24 miles to the North-northeast
- Shaftesbury 01747 area code is about 24 miles to the Northwest
- Southampton, Portsmouth 023 area code is about 25 miles to the East-northeast
- Wareham 01929 area code is about 10 miles to the West
- Wincanton 01963 area code is about 33 miles to the West-northwest
The Beginning of the 01202 Area Code
Bournemouth was one of several areas to originally be issued with two area codes. When dialling in from outside the Bournemouth area, the area code 0202 was used for a central 'core' area, while a second 0201 'ring' code was used for accessing a few satellite telephone exchanges.
The length of local phone numbers could vary between individual exchanges and dialling between local telephone exchanges wholly within the Bournemouth area used a relatively complicated system of short codes starting with 8 or 9.
By the end of the 1980s, the system had been greatly simplified. Six-digit local numbers became the norm and the telephone exchanges that had previously used the 0201 area code had all their numbers absorbed into the main 0202 area code.
The next significant change occurred in 1995, when the 0202 area code was changed to 01202 as part of a nationwide renumbering programme.
By the mid 2000s, concerns were being raised about a shortage of available phone numbers within the 01202 area code. Traditionally, number shortages were resolved by lengthening local numbers and making a corresponding area code change – such as when Reading changed from six digit to seven digit numbers in 1998. However, regulator Ofcom was reluctant to impose a number change on people living and working in the area, as it perceived previous number changes to have been unpopular or inconvenient.
In late 2012, the 01202 area became the first in the country to introduce compulsory dialling of the area code for local calls as a stopgap solution to number shortages. This released a further 200,000 numbers – a potential 25% increase in capacity – by allowing previously undiallable local numbers starting with '0' or '1' to be brought into general use.
The first general use numbers starting 01202 0 were introduced in April 2013. By the start of 2017, a total of 61,000 new local numbers starting with '0' had been issued to phone companies. When the capacity of the 01202 code is completely exhausted, it is likely that Ofcom will need to start issuing numbers from a second, new area code which will run in parallel with 01202.
The historic mnemonic code was BO2, with the first two characters taken from the letters B and O in BOurnemouth. On an old rotary dial telephone, this code would have been entered by dialling the numbers 2, 0, and 2.