Regulator announces new rules to ban the lease of special types of phone numbers in pioneering bid to crackdown on crime
Communications regulator Ofcom has today announced what it calls ‘world-leading’ action on a recognised threat to mobile users’ privacy and security. It is banning the leasing of ‘Global Titles’.
Photo by Akshar Dave🌻/Unsplash
Mobile networks use these Global Titles in sending and receiving signalling messages as part of the way they ensure that a call or SMS reaches the intended recipient. We never see them when we send or receive a message or call, but they’re part of the tech going on in the background.
The mobile networks sometimes lease out Global Titles to businesses who can use them to offer mobile services of various kinds. Unfortunately, that leasing out model has led to criminals getting hold of Global Titles and using them to intercept and divert calls and messages, as well as to access information held by mobile networks.
Examples of this kind of activity include intercepting security codes sent by a bank to a customer via SMS, or accessing mobile users’ personal data. In more extreme cases, Global Titles can be used to track the physical location of individuals anywhere in the world.
What’s more, the criminals are able to hide their identities and work in the shadow of legitimate comms networks because of the way they lease these numbers.
For some time, this issue has bee recognised by the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and a number of organisations within the telecoms sector but industry-led efforts to address it have met with only limited success. That’s why the regulator has stepped in.
New leasing arrangements for Global Titles are banned with immediate effect, as of April 22, 2025. Where leasing is already in place, the ban will come into force in one year on April 22, 2026, ensuring that legitimate businesses engaged in leasing activity have time to make alternative arrangements. (Exceptions are being made for two specific uses of existing leasing which can continue until October 22, 2026 because of particular circumstances.)
Ofcom has also published new Guidance for number range holders to prevent misuse of Global Titles.
Natalie Black, Group Director for Networks and Communications at Ofcom, says: ‘We are taking world-leading action to tackle the threat posed by criminals gaining access to mobile networks. Leased Global Titles are one of the most significant and persistent sources of malicious signalling. Our ban will help prevent them falling into the wrong hands – protecting mobile users and our critical telecoms infrastructure in the process.’
Ollie Whitehouse, Chief Technical Officer at NCSC, adds: ‘Today’s announcement marks an important step in the support of our mission to make the UK the safest place to live and work online. This technique, which is actively used by unregulated commercial companies, poses privacy and security risks to everyday users, and we urge our international partners to follow suit in addressing it. As the UK’s National Technical Authority for cyber security, we also congratulate Ofcom on their continued global leadership in this critical area.’
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