3 SMS 03

Seems Three users can now text our 03 numbers. Yay!

Getting any operators to SMS us is hard work, but we have a cunning plan.

If you cannot text us on our 03 numbers, e.g. 03333400123 from your mobile operator you should complain...

If they don't fix it - well obviously - you take them to ADR.

That costs them over £300 even if they are "right", and if enough people do it then they will set up an SMPP interconnect with us. If you are lucky you may even get some compensation for the hassle. Bear in mind that their contract means nothing to ADR providers - they could be 100% in compliance with their contract terms and still have to pay you compensation.

Good luck.


  1. I find it quite ironic that the first three letters and the last three letters of your name are also 'your favourite three letters' :-P

  2. I still can't call my 03333 number from Orange, but then they did take 6 months to allow me to call my 07441 number. I will hassle them again.

    1. Calling them you should be able to do.

    2. I can call 03333 numbers (AAISP) from orange with no problem.

  3. I'm wonder if the large communications providers get a "bulk" discount, to keep them sweet.

  4. I can't send txt's to that number from orange.

  5. Could you set up a 03* number that we can text, and get an auto reply if it gets through? That way I can easily tell if my provider supports it.

    Quite happy to push them too via the free money of ADR if needed ;)

  6. GiffGaff (O2) still can't text 03 numbers - at least, it fails on my own. Who wants to pursue them ;)

  7. Today I called orange and explained that I was unable to txt any number that began with 03, They gave me a load of speal about 03 numbers being premium rate. I told them that this was not the case and that it was my ISP who was selling 03 numbers for around a pound per month.

    I explained that there was a txt to email service and how cool it was to be able to give out an 03 number for folks to txt. The lady in the call center put me on hold for a few mins and came back exclaiming that she and all the technicians were baffled as to why I could not txt this number. I said that I believed that no orange customer was able to do this, The call centre lady also tried to send a txt and was unable to. She told me that unless I could find more untxt'able 03 numbers that their was nothing that they could do.

    On arriving at work I called AAISP support and asked if they had any txt-able numbers and was given a list. I figured it might be better if I had a number which wasn't 03333400xxx so I bought one. I seem able to send txt's to it without error from my 3 mobile phone but I don't have any way to know if the txt actually got there, clueless doesn't seem to register anything and the email address I set up for that number has to date had no emails.

    I have given my new number to orange for testing so it would be nice if I could get txt's from it or at least be able to see if it received any txts.

    I do run an asterisk server and I wonder if that can do txt's I guess some googling may turn up something.

    I would be great to get this working as my 3 phone cannot send txt's to 03's when it roams to orange.


    1. I too, have tried sending texts to 03333 400123, as well as my own 03333 number. In both cases my Nokia C2-01 reports "1 failed message" so I don't need the called party to confirm the non-arrival; the orange network (presumably) is telling me that itself. I will hassle Orange again tomorrow.
      Note that orange is the same company that told me they could not connect calls to 07441 numbers "Because they did not have the technology" to do so! And this, despite the fact that BT, AAISP, Draytel, etc COULD connect. Orange are a bunch of W****rs ! (IMHO)

  8. I have taken this as far as I can with Orange.
    They say that they agree that they cannot send texts to 03333 numbers owned by AAISP. They say that it is something to do with the fact that the numbers are VoIP and are linked to SIMs. They are not really sure what the problem is but say that it cannot be escalated any further by customers and will have to wait until the fullness of time, when it may start working! and yes I was initially told that 03 numbers are international!
    When I pointed out that "three" could sms 033 numbers, they said "well it is above our heads and we cannot do any more,- sorry"
    I am not sure if there is anything else I can do.

  9. I received SMS tracking updates from DHL to my 03333406xxx number a few weeks ago, having got you to manually enable SMS delivery at your end for that number. I understand why you disable it in the control pages by default, since it's so unlikely to work.

    However, when asking for incoming SMS to be similarly enabled on my 0333403xxx number, I'm told that it's not possible because that's a different number range. Is there a list of which ranges are available from the outside (if the sending telco was to sort their act out) and which are not? I didn't realise that 0333340xxxx was actually more than one block.

    All I want to do is have my numbers enabled on the AAISP side to the extent that *if* the sending telco had peering set up, it would work. So I can hassle the sending telco(s) like Orange, safe in the knowledge that the delivery failure is *not* AAISP's fault.

    1. I am shocked that it worked, and we do have different number blocks. Some of our 01 and 02 blocks are enabled and some are not, but I was unaware that *any* 03 number blocks had inbound SMS.

      If you can email me or support regarding this, with both the number that worked and the one that you want enabling, we can have a look. We can certainly enable it our side, but other than from an A&A customer it would never get SMSs. I don't think DHL use us to send SMS somehow :-)

