FleXtel
| Private | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1992, formerly as Goodall Personal Numbering |
| Founder | William Goodall |
| Headquarters | Sandbach, England, UK |
| Products | Intelligent numbers, telecom services, VoIP & mobile services, personal numbers |
Flextel is a British company that pioneered the use of personal numbering in telecommunications in the United Kingdom.
In 1991 AT&T ran a trial which led in 1992 to the AT&T EasyReach 700 service of follow-me numbers, on area code 700 in the USA numbering plan. Stanford White – a former AT&T executive – brought this to the attention of Oftel.
After the Duopoly Review White Paper in 1991 it was clear that there was now an opportunity for small niche players in the UK telecoms market. There followed a protracted period of lobbying of Oftel by Stanford White (of Numbering Viewed Worldwide Ltd) along with William Goodall (of Goodall Personal Numbering Ltd, renamed Flextel Ltd in 1994). Finally, in mid-1993, each company was issued with a licence by the DTI (now BERR), under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984, to provide telecommunications services. Together Stanford and William had effectively created the personal numbering market in the UK.
In 1992 Flextel was formed by a team of management professionals, some of whom helped found and launch the Vodafone service. As a result of GSM roaming knowledge, Flextel was able to launch the UK's first commercial personal numbering service by December 1993, piggy-backed onto the Mercury One2One GSM network on the One2One 0956 7xxxxx range. Flextel was the only player in this challenging pre-market phase.
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