UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - International Direct Dialling (IDD) provision throughout the UK

Hermitcrab · 24th Aug 2020, 11:49 pm

The facility to dial numbers in other countries from the UK was known as ISD (International Subscriber Dialling) at first, then changed to IDD (International Direct Dialling) later on. It was introduced in 1963 from London to Paris, and extended to the rest of France later.

Progress in extending IDD throughout the UK was quite slow. Until 1972 it was only available in the 6 cities with all figure numbers: London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. In 1972 Leeds and Cardiff got IDD, although as I lived in Leeds at the time I know that many people didn't know that, and many calls must have been made through the international operator which could actually have been dialled direct.

By 1982 everybody in the UK could now dial their own international calls to most countries, and that's something we take for granted these days.

Have you any memories of making international calls before the provision of IDD? And the sudden simplicity of making calls after IDD was introduced from your exchange?

24th Aug 2020, 11:49 pm	#1
Hermitcrab Triode Join Date: Mar 2020 Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 42	International Direct Dialling (IDD) provision throughout the UK The facility to dial numbers in other countries from the UK was known as ISD (International Subscriber Dialling) at first, then changed to IDD (International Direct Dialling) later on. It was introduced in 1963 from London to Paris, and extended to the rest of France later. Progress in extending IDD throughout the UK was quite slow. Until 1972 it was only available in the 6 cities with all figure numbers: London, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. In 1972 Leeds and Cardiff got IDD, although as I lived in Leeds at the time I know that many people didn't know that, and many calls must have been made through the international operator which could actually have been dialled direct. By 1982 everybody in the UK could now dial their own international calls to most countries, and that's something we take for granted these days. Have you any memories of making international calls before the provision of IDD? And the sudden simplicity of making calls after IDD was introduced from your exchange?