0161 area code: Manchester (+44 161)

What the numbering plan and the regulator's allocation table say about numbers starting 0161 (+44 161): the place, the line types, every block's status and the carriers those blocks were allocated to. Original allocation, not who serves a number today, and never who owns or calls from a number.

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Response

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The range at a glance

Country	United Kingdom (GB)
Calling code	+44
Prefix	161
Dialled inside the country	0161
Place named for the range	Manchester
Time zones	Europe/London
Line types by the numbering plan	fixed_line
Example format	+44 161 000 0000

Blocks in the regulator's table

Each block is a 6-digit prefix of the national number. A number in an allocated block is assignable; in an unassigned block no carrier can have a subscriber, so the lookup answers unassigned_block for it, except a number in a range reserved for fiction (is_fictional), which answers valid even where the regulator lists its block as protected. The numbering plan types these numbers itself (fixed_line), not the holders' names. 2.1% of the allocated blocks belong to a virtual-number wholesaler or VoIP provider.

Allocated	705
Unassigned	295
Reserved	0
Total blocks	1,000

Who the blocks were allocated to

The holders as the regulator lists them, by number of allocated blocks. Allocation is not service: a ported number keeps its original block, so a holder here may no longer serve a given number. The last row adds up every other allocated block in the table: the smaller holders and any holder this page does not name.

holder	brand	kind	blocks	share
BT	BT	—	273	38.7%
Vodafone Ltd (C&W)	VodafoneThree	—	65	9.2%
Virgin Media Limited	Virgin Media O2	—	48	6.8%
Gamma Telecom Holdings Limited	—	—	32	4.5%
GCI Network Solutions Limited	—	—	21	3.0%
TalkTalk Communications Limited	TalkTalk	—	16	2.3%
Sky UK Limited	Sky	—	16	2.3%
Colt Technology Services	—	—	12	1.7%
Magrathea Telecommunications Limited	—	—	6	0.9%
Alphatalk Limited	—	—	3	0.4%
All other blocks (177 holders not listed)	—	—	213	30.2%

What each network brand’s legal entities hold across the whole table, counted in numbers: BT, VodafoneThree, Virgin Media O2, TalkTalk, Sky.

How to read this page

Everything above comes from two public sources: the numbering metadata, which names the zones and the line types of the range and, outside North America, its place; and the regulator's allocation table, which lists each block's status and holder and, in North America, the rate centres the place is named from. Neither knows who serves a number today, whether a handset is switched on, or who owns or answers it. Spaw reports what the tables say and names the dataset and version behind every answer.

More area codes in the United Kingdom

ofcom-numbering 2026-10-15 (Ofcom copyright) · newest data dated 2026-10-15 · about the regulator’s table

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