Telephone numbering plan

A telephone numbering plan is a plan for allocating telephone number ranges to countries, regions, areas and exchanges and to non-fixed telephone networks such as mobile phone networks.A typical dialed telephone number comprises digits that need not always be dialled (codes) and digits that must always be dialled (local number). The structure is:

(a) Access code (either international or national) - only necessarily dialled for international/national calls. (The international access code is often quoted as "+" to represent the appropriate code from any country - though "+" may itself be used on GSM networks.) The national access code is usually quoted as if it were part of the telephone number. One of these access codes must be dialled from mobile phones.

(b) Country code - only necessarily dialled from phones in other countries. Often quoted together with the international access code which must precede it in the dial string.

(c) area code - only necessarily dialled from outside the code area and from mobile phones.Area codes usually indicate geographical areas within one country that are covered by perhaps hundreds of telephone exchanges. Must usually be preceded in the dial string by either the national access code or the international access code and country code. Mobile telephones and other non-geographical numbers do not strictly speaking have an area code even though they are usually written as if they have.

(d) local number - must always be dialled in its entirety. The first few digits in the local number typically indicate smaller geographical areas or individual telephone exchanges. In mobile networks they indicate the (original) network provider.

Callers from a number with a given area/country code usually do not need to include this particular area/country code in the number dialed, which enables shorter 'dial strings' to be used. This is an issue when the number must be keyed by hand, but where the dialling is automated (increasingly common) it is not an issue - and it is arguably better to include the full number with access codes in devices that dial automatically.

Although the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has attempted to promote common standards among nation states, numbering plans take different formats in different parts of the world. For example, the ITU recommends that member states adopt 00 as their international access code. However, as these recommendations are not binding on member states, some have not, such as the United States, Canada, and other countries and territories participating in the North American Numbering Plan.

The international numbering plan establishes country codes, that is, area codes that denote nations or groups of nations. The E.164 standard regulates country codes at the international level and sets a maximum length limit on a full international phone number. However, it is each country's responsibility to define the numbering within its own network. As a result, regional area codes may have:
* A fixed length, e.g. 3 digits in the United States and Canada; 1 digit in Australia.
* A variable length, e.g. between 2 and 5 in Germany and in Austria; between 1 and 3 in Japan; 1 or 2 in Israel.
* Or be incorporated into the subscriber's number, as is the case in many countries, such as Spain or Norway. This is known as a "closed" telephone numbering plan. In some cases a trunk code (usually 0) must still be dialled, as in Belgium, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and South Africa.

Generally the area codes determine the cost of a call. Calls within an area code and often a small group of adjacent or overlapping area codes are normally charged at a lower rate than outside the area. Special area codes are generally used for free, premium rate, mobile phone systems (in countries where the mobile phone system is caller pays) and other special rate numbers. There are however some exceptions, in some countries (e.g. Israel), calls are charged at the same rate regardless of area and in others (e.g. the UK) an area code is occasionally treated as two parts with different rates.

Open dialing plans

An open dialing plan is one in which there are different dialing arrangements for local and long distance telephone calls. This means that to call another number within the same city or area, callers need only dial the number, but for calls outside the area, an area code is required. The area code is prefixed by a trunk code (usually "0"), which is omitted when calling from outside the country. To call a number in Amsterdam in the Netherlands for example:

xxx xxxx (within Amsterdam- no area code required) (020) xxx xxxx (outside Amsterdam) +31 20 xxx xxxx (outside the Netherlands)

In the United States, Canada, and other countries or territories using the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), the trunk code is '1', which is also (by coincidence) the country calling code. To call a number in San Francisco, the dialing procedure will vary:

xxx xxxx (local calls, no area code required) 1 415 xxx xxxx (outside San Francisco) 415 xxx xxxx (mobile phones within NANP) +1 415 xxx xxxx (outside NANP)

However, in parts of North America, especially where a new area code overlays an older area code, dialing 1 + area code is now required even for local calls, which means that the NANP is now closed in certain areas and open in others. Dialing from mobile phones is different in that the trunk code is not necessary. (Most mobile phones today can be programmed to automatically prepend a frequently-called area code as a prefix, allowing calls within the desired area to be dialed by the user as seven-digit numbers, though sent by the phone as 10-digit numbers.)

Open and closed dialing plan should not be confused with open and closed numbering plans. A closed numbering plan, such as found in North America, features fixed length area codes and local numbers. An open numbering plan, as found in assorted countries that have not yet standardized, features variance in length of area code or local number, or both. Closed dialing plans are rare where numbering plans are open.

Closed dialing plans

A closed numbering plan is one in which the subscriber's number is a standard length, and a closed dialing plan is one in which the subscriber's number is used for all calls, even in the same area. This has traditionally been the case in small countries and territories where area codes have not been required. However, there has been a trend in many countries towards making all numbers a standard length, and incorporating the area code into the subscriber's number. This usually makes the use of a trunk code obsolete. For example, to call Oslo in Norway before 1992, one would dial:

xxx xxx (within Oslo - no area code required) (02) xxx xxx (within Norway - outside Oslo) +47 2 xxx xxx (outside Norway)

After 1992, this changed to a closed eight-digit numbering plan, eg:

22xx xxxx (within Norway - including Oslo) +47 22xx xxxx (outside Norway)

In other countries, such as France, Belgium, Switzerland, and South Africa, the trunk code is retained for domestic calls, whether local or national, eg:

Paris 01 xxxx xxxx (outside France +33 1 xxxx xxxx) Brussels 02 xxx xxxx (outside Belgium +32 2 xxx xxxx) Geneva 022 xxx xxxx (outside Switzerland +41 22 xxx xxxx) Cape Town 021 xxx xxxx (outside South Africa +27 21 xxx xxxx)

While the use of full national dialing is less user-friendly than only using a local number without the area code, the increased use of mobile phones, which require full national dialing and can store numbers, means that this is of decreasing importance. It also makes easier to display numbers in the international format, as no trunk code is required- hence a number in Prague Czech Republic can now be displayed as:

+420 2 xxxx xxxx formerly: 02 xxxx xxxx (inside Czech Republic) +420 2 xxxx xxxx (outside Czech Republic)

Numbering plans by country

Argentina

Main article: Argentine telephone numbering plan

Country Code: 54
International Prefix: 00

Australia

Main article: Australian telephone numbering plan

Country Code: 61
International Prefix: 0011

Telephone numbers in Australia consist of a single-digit area code (prefixed with an 0 when dialling within Australia) and eight-digit local numbers, the first four of which generally specify the exchange, and the final four a line at that exchange. (Most exchanges though have several four-digit exchange codes.) Within Australia, the area code is only required to call from one area code to another. Mobile phone numbers consist of a four-digit code, followed by two sets of three-digit codes.

Australia is divided geographically into a few large area codes, some of which cover more than one state and territory. Prior to the introduction of eight-digit numbers in the early to mid-1990s, telephone numbers were seven digits in the major capital cities, with a single-digit area code, and six digits in other areas with a two-digit area code. There were more than sixty such codes by 1990, with numbers running out, thus spurring the reorganisation.

Following reorganisation of the numbering plan between 1996 and 1998, the following numbering ranges are now used: 01 Domestic number nation-wide 02 New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory 03 Victoria and Tasmania 04 Mobile phone services 07 Queensland 08 Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia ''(including Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands).

However the system is not perfect; sometimes the codes do not strictly follow state borders. Examples include; Towns in Southern New South Wales that use the '03' prefix (examples include: Hay, Balranald, Wentworth, Deniliquin); and Broken Hill in New South Wales, which uses the '08' area code, (due to its previous area code of 080).

Austria

Main article: Area codes in Austria

Country Code: 43

There are no standard lengths for either area codes or subscribers' numbers in Germany, meaning that some subscribers' numbers may be as short as three digits. Larger towns have shorter area codes permitting longer subscriber numbers in that area. Some examples:

112 general emergency call 122 fire 133 police 140 mountain rescue 144 medical emergency 118 directory assistance services 01 Wien 0316 Graz 0463 Klagenfurt 050x virtual private network (VPN) 0512 Insbruck 0662 Salzburg 065x cell phones 066x cell phones 067x cell phones 068x cell phones 069x cell phones 069x cell phones 069x cell phones 0718 internet dial-up numbers 0720 location indepenent landline numbers VoIP 0732 Linz 0780 national subscriber numbers 0800 national free call 00800 internationel free call 0804 internet dial-up numbers 08xx service numbers 09xx premium rate

Brazil

Country Code: 55
International Prefix: 00 xx

In Brazil, long distance and international dialling requires the use of carrier selection codes, after the trunk code or international access code. The places where these codes are inserted are shown here by "xx" Some of these codes are.

* 15 for Telefónica
* 21 for Embratel
* 23 for Intelig
* 31 for Telemar

Area codes are distributed geographically (See List of Brazilian area codes for a list). National dialing is prefixed with 0 (the trunk code) followed by the carrier code (see above) then the area code and the number. For example, to call Rio de Janeiro from another city in Brazil, one would dial the trunk code '0', a two-digit code, the area code '21' and the subscriber's number. Consequently, a Rio de Janeiro number would be displayed in Brazil as

0xx21 nnnn nnnn.

A few areas use nnn-nnnn in lieu of nnnn nnnn, such as Natal (the area code for that state is '84', in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, in northeastern Brazil. However, this practice will be phased out in 2006.

Mobile phone numbers are within the normal area codes but prefixed with the digit '7', '8' or '9'. They generally have eight digits (including the 7/8/9). Exceptions exist in Brasilia.

Bulgaria

Country Code: 359
International Prefix: 00 xx

Bulgaria applies an open dialing plan, similar to those of Germany and Austria. Area codes are only dialled when necessary (dialling the same area with the area code is billed as if the call was to another area). Area codes are prepended a trunk code of '0'.

Area codes vary in length, from 1 to 5 digits. Subscriber number lengths vary accordingly, from 7 digits down to 3 digits; the sum of both lengths is limited to 8 digits.

For a very long time, the state-owned Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) had been holding a monopoly on fixed telephone networks. However, it ended when a special law was adopted, BTC was privatized in 2004 and competing operators appeared.

Larger areas, such as Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, are subdivided to zones. Although one cannot further reduce the number of dialled digits, the number itself shows which zone it is located in (e.g. in Sofia, numbers starting with 2, 82, 92 are located in the Western suburbs, with 7, 87, 97 - in the Eastern suburbs, with 98 - in the central area, etc.).

In the recent decade there is an intensive process of replacing the old analog switchers with modern digital ones. In areas where both analog and digital switchers are operating, a subscriber number shows by its first digit if it is connected to an analog or a digital switch. In some areas it is even possible to guess if a subscriber number was changed from analog to digital during its existence or was subscribed as digital initially (e.g. in Blagoevgrad a number starting with 88 was subscribed as digital, and a number starting with a single 8 was analog before).

The first digit also shows if a particular subscriber number is operated by BTC or another operator.

The area codes are always cited with the trunk code. However, within the area, or when the Sofia code of 02 can be guessed from the context, it is omitted.

The area codes of the main cities are:

02 Sofia (digital: 7D, first digit 8, 9: BTC operated, 4: Spectrum Net operated; analog: 6D) 0301 Smolian 032 Plovdiv (digital: 6D, first digit 6, 9: BTC, 5: Spectrum Net; analog: 6D) 034 Pazardjik 0361 Kurdjali 038 Haskovo 042 Stara Zagora 044 Sliven 046 Yambol 052 Varna (digital: 6D, first digit 6; analog: 6D) 054 Shoumen 0550 All towns and villages south of Burgas, incl. Sozopol, Ahtopol, Tsarevo, Primorsko, Kiten) 056 Burgas (digital: 6D, first digit 8; analog: 5D) 058 Dobrich 0601 Turgovishte 062 Veliko Turnovo 064 Pleven 066 Gabrovo 068 Lovech 0701 Dupnitsa (digital: 5D, first digit 5; analog: 5D) 073 Blagoevgrad (digital: 6D, first digit 8; analog: 5D) 076 Pernik (digital: 6D, first digit 6; analog: 5D) 078 Kyustendil (digital: 6D, first digit 5; analog: 5D) 082 Rouse 084 Razgrad 086 Silistra 092 Vratsa 094 Vidin 096 Montana 0973 Kozloduy (digital: 5D, first digit 8; analog: 4D; NPP Kozloduy: 7)

The other area codes are 3 digits or longer. They show by themselves the geographical region of the area, e.g. codes starting with 031 or 033 are located around the city of Plovdiv.

Non-geographical codes:

0700 (+5D) Universal number 0800 (+5D) Green number (toll free) 0900 (+5D) Value added services 048 (+6D) NMT mobile network (Mobikom) 087 (+7D) GSM mobile network (VivaTel) 088 (+7D) GSM mobile network (MobilTel, offers also UMTS services) 089 (+7D) GSM mobile network (Globul)

Until 20.07.2003 GSM mobile networks used 6D subscriber numbers in accordance with the limit of 8 digits for a full numbers. With the increase of subscribers, all (except Vivatel, which started operations in 2006) acquired new access codes. On 20.07.2003 Mobiltel used three codes (087, 088, 089) and Globul used two (098 and 099). When these limits were also to be overwhelmed, 7-digit subscriber numbers and single access codes per operator were introduced. Mobikom had gone through a similar change in mid-90's (from 0799+5D to 048+6D)

Dialing to a mobile network requires the access code together with the '0'. Dialing from a mobile network requires either an area or access code with the trunk, or international format (0YYYXXXXXX or +359YYYXXXXXX). The latter becomes a normal practice, since most people use the phone book of their headsets, more people use their phones in roaming and all four operators show the caller ID in international format.

Canada

See: #United States, Canada and West Indies

China (PRC)

The Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions have their own separate country codes and telephone numbering plans.

Country Code: 86
International Prefix: 00

Colombia

Country Code: 57

''Main article: Colombian telephone numbering plan

Cyprus

See Numbering plan of Cyprus

Czech Republic

Country Code: 420

Following the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the successor states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, continued to share the 42 country code, until 1997, with the Czech Republic adopting 420 and Slovakia adopting 421.

On September 22, 2002, the Czech Republic adopted a closed numbering plan, with nine-digit numbers used for local and national calls, and the dropping of the trunk code 0.

Before the change, the following arrangements would have been made for calls to Brno:

Local call: xxxx xxxx National call: (05) xxxx xxxx International call: +420 5 xxxx xxxx

After the change, the dialling arrangements were as follows:

Within Czech Republic: 5xx xxx xxx Outside Czech Republic: +420 5xx xxx xxx

In the case of mobile numbers, which had to be dialled in full, the only change was that the 0 was no longer used:

Within Czech Republic: 602 xxx xxx Outside Czech Republic: +420 602 xxx xxx

East Timor (Timor Leste)

Country Code: 670

Until September 1999, East Timor formed part of the Indonesian numbering plan, using the Country Code +62, followed by area codes for the two largest cities, Dili (390) and Baucau (399). Following the violence in the wake of Indonesia's departure from the territory, most of the telecommunications infrastructure was destroyed, and Telkom Indonesia withdrew its services from East Timor.

A new country code +670 was allocated to East Timor, but international access often remains severely limited. A complicating factor is the fact that 670 was previously used by the Northern Marianas, with many carriers not aware that the code is now used by East Timor. (The Northern Marianas, now part of the North American Numbering Plan, use the code 1 and the area code 670.)

East Timor now has a closed numbering plan; all subscribers' numbers are seven digits.

Telephone numbering in East Timor is as follows:

Mobile: 72X-YYYY

 Service Numbers: 721-XXXX
 Fixed: 32X-YYYY (numbering range in Dili)  
 Government Departments: 333-YYYY 
 Ambulance Service: 110
 Fire Dept: 115
 Emergency: 112
 International access code: 00

Ecuador

Country Code: 593

Mobile: 9

 Azuay: 7
 Bolivar: 3
 Cañar: 7
 Carchi: 6
 Chimborazo: 3
 Cotopaxi: 3
 El Oro: 7
 Esmeraldas: 6
 Galapagos: 5
 Guayas: 6
 Imbabura: 6
 Loja: 7
 Los Rios: 5
 Manabi: 5
 Morona Santiago: 7
 Napo: 6
 Orellana: 6
 Pastaza: 3
 Pichincha: 2
 Sucumbios: 6
 Tungurahua: 3
 Zabora Chinchipe: 7
 Ambulance Service: 101
 Fire Dept: 102
 Emergency: 101
 International access code: 00

European Union (1996 proposal)

Proposed Country Code: 3

In 1996, the European Commission proposed the introduction of a single telephone numbering plan, in which all European Union member states would use the code '3'. Calls between member states would no longer require the use of the international access code '00'. This proposal would have required countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and others, whose country codes began with the digit '4', to return these to the International Telecommunication Union. For example, to call a number in Berlin, in Germany:

xxxx xxxx (within Berlin) 030 xxxx xxxx (within Germany) 1 4930 xxxx xxxx (within the EU) +3 49 30 xxxx xxxx (outside the EU)

Countries like Ireland, Portugal and Finland, which used codes in the '35x' range, would adopt a different format. For example, to call a number in Dublin, Ireland:

xxxx xxxx (within Dublin) 01 xxxx xxxx (within Ireland) 1 53 1 xxxx xxxx (within the EU) +3 53 1 xxxx xxxx (outside the EU)

A Green Paper on the proposal was published, but it was felt by many in the industry that the disruption and inconvenience of such a scheme would outweigh any advantages.

The EU proposal should not be confused with the European Telephony Numbering Space (ETNS) scheme, which uses the code +388, and is intended to complement, rather than replace, existing national numbering plans.

Finland

Country Code: 358

Finland's numbering plan was reorganised in 1996, with the number of area codes being reduced, and the trunk code being changed from 9 to 0. This meant that the area code for Helsinki also changed:

Before 1996: 90 xxx xxx within Finland' +358 0 xxx xxx outside Finland

After 1996: 09 xxx xxx within Finland' +358 9 xxx xxx outside Finland

The default international access code became 00, although other codes such as 999 are also still used.

France

Main article: French telephone numbering plan

Country Code: 33

In 1996, France changed to a ten-digit numbering scheme, as follows:

01 Paris 02 Northwest France 03 Northeast France 04 Southeast France 05 Southwest France 06 Mobile phone services 08 Freephone (numéro vert) and shared cost services. 08 70 7X XX XX now gives access to the new Free (Internet Provider) land lines.

Germany

See also: Area codes in Germany

Country Code: 49

There are no standard lengths for either area codes or subscribers' numbers in Germany, meaning that some subscribers' numbers may be as short as three digits. Larger towns have shorter area codes permitting longer subscriber numbers in that area. Some examples:

00800 toll free (international) 010xxx dial-around-services (alternative carrier) 011xx service numbers 012xx "innovative services", Unified Messaging & non-geographical VoIP 0137x televoting & TV call-in-shows 0138 teledialog (radio and TV stations) 015x cell phone (not longer assignable to certain operator due to number portability) 016x pagers & cell phone (not longer assignable to certain operator due to number portability) 017x cell phone (not longer assignable to certain operator due to number portability) 0180x shared-cost-service (partly more expensive than national calls) 0181x virtual private network (VPN) 01888 government numbers (departments in Berlin or the former capital Bonn) 0190x premium rate until December 31st, 2005 (migrated to 0900) 0192x internet dial-up numbers 0201 Essen 0211 Düsseldorf 0221 Köln/Cologne 0228 Bonn 0231 Dortmund 030 Berlin 0310 announcement of current carrier for long-distance calls 0311 announcement of current carrier for local calls 032x non-geographical VoIP 0341 Leipzig 040 Hamburg 0511 Hannover 0611 Wiesbaden 069 Frankfurt 0700 lifetime personal numbers (non-geographical) 0711 Stuttgart 0800 toll free (within Germany) 089 München/Munich 09001 premium rate (information services) 09003 premium rate (entertainment services) 09005 premium rate (adult services) 09009 premium rate (internet premium dial-up services) 0911 Nürnberg/Nuremberg 0941 Regensburg 110 police 112 fire & ambulance 116116 blocking service (report loss of credit cards, SIM card etc.) 118xx directory assistance services 19222 medical emergency operator (only in some regions) 19449 local public transportation information (only in some regions)

The default length for newly assigned numbers (area code without 0 + subscriber number) is 10 or 11 digits, but older shorter numbers will not be replaced, but not reassigned if given back. The area codes are, if not counting the national trunk prefix '0', from 2 digits (only for Berlin +49 30, Hamburg +49 40, Frankfurt +49 69 and Munich +49 89) to 5 digits long (for smaller towns in the former East German states +49 3xxxx).

The former East German states were integrated into the Federal Republic's numbering system at 03xxx because Berlin's 030 was the only 03 area code before. They used range is from 0331 (Potsdam) to 039999 (small village Tutow in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). Due to limited number range also 5-digit area codes are used there, whereas in the old Federal Republic only 4-digit area codes (without the leading 0) are used.

Callers from the U.S. & Canada need to dial 01149 for Germany and the area code without the "0" prefix and then the local number, like 01149-69-123456789 (example).

Emergency numbers in Germany are 110 for police and 112 for fire and ambulance. In some states, the non-prioritised number 19222 is used for ambulance services, though this is heavily lobbied against and expected to be phased out in the future.

Greece

Country Code: 30

During 2001-2002, Greece moved to a closed ten-digit numbering scheme in two stages, with the result that subscribers' numbers changed twice. For example, before the change, a number in Athens would have been dialed as follows:

xxx xxxx (within Athens) (01) xxx xxxx (within Greece) +30 1 xxx xxxx (outside Greece)

In 2001, a '0' was added after the area code, which was incorporated into the subscriber's number:

010 xxx xxxx (within Greece, including Athens) +30 10 xxx xxxx (outside Greece)

Finally, in 2002, the leading '0' was changed to a '2' (for geographic numbers) :

210 xxx xxxx (within Greece, including Athens) +30 210 xxx xxxx (outside Greece)

Mobile phone numbers were similarly prefixed with the digit '6'.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China has a separate numbering plan from Mainland China.

Country Code: 852

Main article: Hong Kong telephone numbering plan

Hungary

Country Code: 36

Standard lengths for area codes is one (Budapest only) to two digits and 8 or 9 (cell phone numbers beginning with 20, 30 and 70 and corporate network numbers starting with 71) for subscribers' numbers in Hungary.

1 area code for Budapest 104 emergency operator (medical) 105 emergency operator (fire) 107 emergency operator (police) 112 emergency operator (general) 20 cell phone network of Pannon 22 area code for Székesfehérvár 23 area code for Biatorbágy 24 area code for Szigetszentmiklós 25 area code for Dunaújváros 26 area code for Szentendre 27 area code for Vác 28 area code for Gödöllo 29 area code for Monor 30 cell phone networks of T-Mobile 32 area code for Salgótarján 33 area code for Esztergom 34 area code for Tatabánya 35 area code for Balassagyarmat 36 area code for Eger 37 area code for Gyöngyös 40 Shared-cost service (national) 42 area code for Nyíregyháza 44 area code for Mátészalka 45 area code for Kisvárda 46 area code for Miskolc 47 area code for Szerencs 48 area code for �"zd 49 area code for Mezokövesd 52 area code for Debrecen 53 area code for Cegléd 54 area code for Berettyóújfalu 55 Test number 56 area code for Szolnok 57 area code for Jászberény 59 area code for Karcag 62 area code for Szeged 63 area code for Szentes 66 area code for Békéscsaba 68 area code for Orosháza 69 area code for Mohács 70 cell phone network of Vodafone 71 corporate networks 72 area code for Pécs 73 area code for Szigetvár 74 area code for Szekszárd 75 area code for Paks 76 area code for Kecskemét 77 area code for Kiskunhalas 78 area code for Kiskorös 79 area code for Baja 80 freephone service (national) 81 IN 82 area code for Kaposvár 83 area code for Keszthely 84 area code for Siófok 85 area code for Marcali 87 area code for Tapolca 88 area code for Veszprém 89 area code for Pápa 90 Premium-rate service (national) 91 IP VPN 92 area code for Zalaegerszeg 93 area code for Nagykanizsa 94 area code for Szombathely 95 area code for Szombathely 96 area code for Gyor 99 area code for Sopron

Iceland

Country Code: 354

India

Country Code: 91

Telephone numbering is a little different for Fixed and Mobile phones.

Fixed (landline) numbers

Fixed line telephones are operated by the government-owned incumbent operator BSNL, although some new fixed-wireless operators are in the picture since 2001.

Subscriber Trunk Dialling (STD) codes are assigned to each city/town/village, with the larger cities having shorter area codes (STD codes), the smallest being 2 digits. An STD Prefix of 0 is used to dial such a number. For example,

11 - New Delhi, Delhi 22 - Mumbai, Maharastra 33 - Kolkata, West Bengal 44 - Chennai, Tamil Nadu 40 - Hyderabad/Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh 80 - Banglore, Karnataka 20 - Pune, Maharastra 79 - Ahmedabad, GujaratIn addition, due to the availability of multiple operators offering fixed line services (either over wire or wireless), there is also an operator-code for each telephone number, namely:

2 - BSNL and MTNL

 3 - Reliance
 4 - Airtel (formerly Touchtel)

6 - Tata Indicom

Thus, a number formatted as 020-30303030 means a fixed-line Reliance number in Pune, while 011-20000198 is a MTNL fixed line in Delhi and 033-65229320 is a Tata Indicom number in Kolkata.

A full list of area codes in India is available with BSNL

Cell phone numbers

Telecom Regulator TRAI has divided the country into various cellular zones such that within each zone, the call is treated as a local call, while across zones, it becomes a long-distance call. A cellular zone (or cellular circle) is normally the entire state, with a few exceptions like Mumbai (which is a different zone), Goa (the state, which is a part of the Maharashtra zone) or Uttar Pradesh (which is so big it was divided into multiple zones)

From 20th May 2005 onwards calls between Mumbai Metro & Maharashtra Telecom Circle, Chennai Metro & Tamilnadu Telecom Circle, Kolkata Metro & West Bengal Telecom Circle and UP (East) & UP (West) Telecom Circle Service Areas are merged in Inter service area connectivity. With the above arrangement, calls within a State in the above-mentioned four States would be treated as intra-service area call for the purposes of routing as well as Access Deficit Charges (ADC). The dialling procedure for calls within a State for these States would also be simplified i.e. dialling of mobile-to mobile subscribers and fixed-to-mobile subscribers would be without prefixing ‘0'. Ref : DoT Notice

All mobile numbers in India have the prefix 9 (This includes pager services, but the use of pagers is on the decline). Each zone is allowed to have multiple private operators (earlier it was 2 private + BSNL, subsequently it was changed to 3 private + BSNL in GSM 900/1800, now it also includes 2 private + BSNL in CDMA). All cellphone numbers are 10 digits long, (normally) split up as OO-AA-NNNNNN where OO is the operator code, AA is the zone code assigned to the operator, and NNNNNN is the subscriber number.

The numbering plan is as follows:

92-yy-yyyyyy - Tata Indicom mobile phones. The two digit code XX identifies the cellular zone. 93-xx-yyyyyy - Reliance India Mobile. The two digit code XX identifies the cellular zone. 94-xx-yyyyyy - BSNL. The two digit code XX identifies the cellular zone. 98-xx-yyyyyy - All private (non government-owned) GSM operators. The two digit code XX identifies

 the operator as well as the cellular zone.

97-xx-yyyyyy/99-xx-yyyyyy - Some new licensees have been given 97 and 99 series codes, as the 98 series stands saturated.

For a full list of cellphone numbering plans in India, refer to India Cellphone Numbering

International dialling

The international access code in India is 00. For example, to call 08-790-1000 in Sweden from India, a subscriber would dial: 00 46 8 7901000.

For calls to India from abroad, the appropriate international access code should be dialled, followed by 91 followed by the area code (without the 0) followed by the phone number. For example, to call 011-23456789 in India, from Europe, a subscriber would dial: 00 91 11 23456789

Ireland

Main article: Irish telephone numbering plan

Country Code: 353

Telephone numbers in Ireland are similar in format to those in the United Kingdom, with only the subscriber's number being required for local dialing.The trunk prefix is '0' followed by an area code, the first digit indicating the geographical area.

01 Dublin 02 Cork (021) and South 04 Drogheda (041) and East 05 Waterford (051) and South East 06 Limerick (061) and South West 07 Sligo (071) and North West 09 Galway (091) and West

Area codes have varied in length, between one and three digits, and subscribers' numbers between five and seven digits but a migration to a standard format, as follows, is in process:

(0xx) xxx xxxx

Dublin numbers are currently seven digits, but may change to eight digits in the future, although breaking the city into separate area codes would match the rest of the national system.

The 08 numbering range was previously used for calls to Northern Ireland, but following the UK's renumbering of Northern Ireland in 2000, this changed, so to call a number in Belfast from the Republic:

Before 2000: (080) 1232 xxx xxx After 2000: (048) 90xx xxxx; or via the UK numbering plan; 00 44 28 90xx xxxx

Calls to Northern Ireland landlines are, unlike calls to the rest of the UK, charged at national rates.

The 03 numbering range was originally used for calls to Great Britain, but this was discontinued in 1992, when the international access code changed from 16 to 00. For a short period in the early 1990's 0300 was used for premium rate services (see below)

Before 1992: 030 xxx xxx xxx After 1992: 00 44 xxx xxx xxx

The prefixes 151x, 1530, 1540, 1550 (Initially 0300), 1559, 1560, 1570 and 1580 are for premium rate Services which are more expensive than other telephone calls. These numbers provide a range of services from weather forecasting to adult dating. Regtel an independent body monitors the premium rate services industry.

Mobile phones use the prefixes 083, 085, 086 and 087. 088 was previously issued to the Eircell analogue service. While mobile numbers are portable between operators, all new numbers are issued in an operators own allocation - 083 for 3, 085 for Meteor Mobile Communications, 086 for O2 and 087 for Vodafone. Due to number portability, the full number must be dialled even if it has the same prefix as the caller's number.

Freephone services use the prefix 1800, while shared cost (Lo-Call) numbers use the prefix 1850. 1890 (local rate) and 0818 (national rate, or slightly higher) are issued to non-geographic services. One disadvantage of this arrangement is that Irish freephone numbers are inaccessible from outside the Republic (unlike for example UK freefone numbers which can be accessed by dialling 0044800).

Dial-up Internet providers are entitled, but not required, to use numbers in the 189x range. 1891 numbers cost slightly below local call rate, and are often provided for subscription dialup packages. 1892 numbers are used for full local rate dialup, and 1893 for variable-rate dialup.

A new area was introduced in 2005, using the 076 access code. This is allocated to VOIP providers, and is treated as either a national or local call by individual telecoms operators.

The 13xx code is used for accessing third party long distance/International service providers and some internet services

Israel

Country Code: 972

00 - General International Access Code (qod gisha) 012 - International Access Code (Smile) 013 - International Access Code (Barak) 014 - International Access Code (Bezeq International) 015 - International Access Code (Internet Zahav, Smile) 017 - International Access Code (Netvision) 018 - International Access Code (Exphone) 02 - Jerusalem Area (azor yerushalayim) 03 - Tel Aviv & Central Area (azor ha'merkaz) 04 - Haifa & Northern Area (azor heifa ve'ha'tzafon) 050 - Mobile (Pelephone) 052 - Mobile (Cellcom) 054 - Mobile (Orange) 057 - Mobile (Mirs) 077 - Cable Network (Hot) (kvalim) 08 - Lowland & Southern Area 09 - Sharon Area (azor ha'sharon)'' 100 - Police (mishtara) 101 - Ambulance Service (magen david adom) 102 - Fire Fighters (mehabey esh) 103 - Electric Corporation (hevrat ha'hashmal) 106 - Municipal Call Center (moked ironi) most cities> 107 - Municipal Call Center (moked ironi) 108 - Municipal Call Center (moked ironi) 109 - Municipal Call Center (moked ironi) 118 - Personal Distress Call Center 1255-XXX - Hospital Information Center 142 - Collect Call (govayna) 144 - Telephone Listings Information (modi'in) 166 - Telephone Repairs (tiqunim) 1-700 - Regular Toll Rate (siha regila) 1-800 - Toll Free (sihat hinam)

Italy

Country Code: 39

Italy changed to a closed numbering plan in 1998. The plan which had originally been advertised in early 1998 was to merge the trunk code '0' into subscribers' landline numbers effective June 19, 1998, and then to replace that leading '0' with a '4' starting from December 29, 2000. As a result of this change, all landline numbers would begin with a '4', and mobile phone numbers with a '3'. Other initial digits had been reserved for different special purposes. In practice, the switch was not completed as originally announced, and landline numbers still begin with a '0', unlike in the closed numbering plans of other countries. E.g. a number in Rome:

06 xxx xxxx (within Rome - after 1999) 06 xxx xxxx (within Italy) +39 06 xxx xxx (outside Italy - after 1998)

Calls to mobile phone numbers within Italy were also affected, deleting the previously used trunk code '0'. International calls to Italian mobile phone numbers were not affected. E.g. for former Omnitel, now Vodafone provider in Italy:

0347 xxx xxx (within Italy - before 1999) 347 xxx xxx (within Italy - after 1999) +39 347 xxx xxx (outside Italy - both before and after 1999)

Until 1996, San Marino was part of the Italian numbering plan, using the Italian area code 0549 but in that year it adopted its own international code 378. However, instead of using international dialing codes, dialling arrangements between San Marino and Italy continued as before. In 1998, San Marino incorporated the 0549 area code into its subscribers' numbers, following the Italian format:

0549 xxx xxx (San Marino from Italy) +378 0549 xxx xxx (San Marino from rest of the world) +39 0549 xxx xxx (San Marino via Italy)

Mobile phone number in Italy: without a zero, started with a 3.

3xx xxx xxx

Japan

Country Code: 81

Main article: Japanese telephone numbering plan

South Korea

Country Code: 82

Main article: Communications in South Korea, Korean telephone numbering plan

Liechtenstein

Country Code: 423

Until 1999, Liechtenstein formed part of the Swiss numbering plan, using the country code 41 and the area code 075, but in that year it adopted its own international code 423, meaning that calls to and from Switzerland require international dialing.

Luxembourg

Country Code: 352

Luxembourg uses a closed dialling plan: all numbers are dialled in the same format whether from within the country or from abroad. There is no trunk "0".

The majority of the country also employs a closed numbering plan, where a two-digit area identifier is followed by a four-digit subscriber number. This varies in Luxembourg City, where numbers typically begin with the digits "2" or "4", which may be followed by up to eleven digits.

79 xxxx (example number in Consdorf) +352 79 xxxx (when dialled from outside Luxembourg)

4 xxxx xxxxx (example number in Luxembourg City) +352 4 xxxx xxxxx (when dialled from outside Luxembourg)

Mobile telephone numbers always carry a three-digit network code, in the format "02x", which is followed by six digits. The leading "0" of these numbers is not omitted when dialling from abroad.

02x xxx xxx (within Luxembourg) +352 02x xxx xxx (outside Luxembourg)

Macau

Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (RAEM)

Country Code: 853

Main article: Macau telephone numbering plan

Malaysia

Country Code: 60 (Note: when dialing with area code, "0" is suppressed, e.g. 603-XXXXXXXX.)

In 1999 Malaysia introduced eight-digit subscriber numbers in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor. The introduction of the new numbering plan was completed in 2001.

For more information on the spectrum assignment & numbering plan, please refer to MCMC Spectrum Management & Numbering & Electronic Addressing.

00 : IDD short code 010 : Celcom Art900 (wireless) 011 : Telekom Malaysia (TM) ATUR 450 (wireless) 012 : Maxis (3G/GSM900/GSM1800 mobile) 013 : Celcom (formerly TMTouch, GSM900/GSM1800 mobile) 014 : reserved (for IMT satellite mobile) 0146: Digi (GSM900/GSM1800 mobile, prepaid plan only) 0148: Celcom (3G/GSM900/GSM1800 mobile, prepaid plan only) 015 : Jaring, TMnet, etc. (data/IP wireless) 016 : Digi (GSM900/GSM1800 mobile) 017 : Maxis (formerly TimeCel, GSM900/GSM1800 mobile) 018 : Telekom Malaysia (TM) (formerly Mobikom, CDMA wireless) 019 : Celcom (3G/GSM900/GSM1800 mobile) 02 : Domestic access code to Singapore 03 : Selangor & Federal Territories of Cyberjaya, Kuala Lumpur & Putrajaya 04 : Kedah, Penang & Perlis 05 : Perak 06 : Melaka, Negeri Sembilan & Muar (Johor) 07 : Johor (except Muar) 080 : Domestic access code to Brunei 081 : reserved (for domestic access/area code) 082 : Kuching (Sarawak) 083 : Sri Aman (Sarawak) 084 : Sarikei, Sibu (Sarawak) 085 : Lawas, Limbang, Miri (Sarawak) 086 : Bintulu 087 : Inner District (Sabah) & Federal Territory of Labuan 088 : Kota Kinabalu, Kudat (Sabah) 089 : Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Tawau (Sabah) 09 : Kelantan, Pahang & Terengganu 1 : Message & service 112 : Mobile network emergency message & service 1300: Local toll message & service 1400: reserved (for special message & service) 15xx: Internet access service 1600: reserved (for special message & service) 1700: reserved (for special message & service) 1800: Toll-free message & service 1900: reserved (for special message & service) 600 : Premium toll message & service 991 : Civil defense 994 : Fire 999 : Police & medical emergency

Mexico

Country Code: 52

In 1999 Mexico introduced the following new prefixes long distance calls for long distance and international calls:

00 - international direct dialing (00 + country code + nat'l number) including USA and Canada. 01 - domestic direct dialing (01 + area code + number) 02 - domestic operator dialing (02 + area code + number) 09 - international operator dialing (09 + country code + number) including USA and Canada.This did not affect calls from outside Mexico, which continued to be dialed in the same format.For example, to call a number in Mexico City: +52 55 xxxx xxxx

Mexican area codes are 3 digits long, except for Mexico City (55), Monterrey (81), Guadalajara (33) and their respective outlying areas.

Likewise, local numbers are 7 digits long, while Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara use 8 digit numbers. 8 digit numbers are commonly written two ways:

 xxxx xxxx

xx xx xx xx

When dialed within its local area, calling-party-pays mobile phone numbers have a designated prefix: 044 - mobile phone (044 + area code + number)For example, when calling within area code 33, a Guadalajara mobile phone would be dialed as: 044 33 xxxx xxxxThis prefix is dropped when the number is dialed from another city in Mexico and the domestic prefix 01 is used since calling-party-pays calls can only be made when the mobile subscriber is being called from the same local area. Outside the country, mobiles are dialed in the same way as regular lines: +52 33 xxxx xxxx

It is common to see businesses with multiple lines on the same telephone exchange list their alternate lines without repeating the common numbers. For example, "(55) xxxx xx10, 19, 22 y 24" would signify a series of lines in Mexico City: (55) xxxx xx10 (55) xxxx xx19 (55) xxxx xx22 (55) xxxx xx24

Moldova

Country Code: 373

In 2003 Moldova introduced new open type telephone numbering plan [1]. It created controversy with Transnistria, which then adopted its own plan instead [2].

Netherlands

Main article: Telephone numbers in the Netherlands

See also Communications in the Netherlands

Country Code: 31

In the Netherlands, the area codes are — excluding the leading '0' — two or three digits long. Since renumbering in 1996, all regular telephone numbers have ten digits including area code and the leading 0. Larger towns and cities have two digit area codes permitting a larger number of local telephone numbers.

010: Rotterdam 020: Amsterdam 030: Utrecht 040: Eindhoven 050: Groningen 0592: Assen 06: mobile phone number 066: mobile pagers 0676: internet access number 070: The Hague 073: 's-Hertogenbosch 0800: toll free number 084: location independent (used mostly for fax-to-email and voicemail services) 087: location independent 0878: location independent (voice over IP) 0900: premium rate, information 0906: premium rate, erotic 0909: premium rate, entertainment 112: emergency services number

066, 084 and 087 are often used by scammers, because they are easy and cheap to register and make identification very hard.

Previously, 06-0, 06-1000 and 06-4 were used for toll-free numbers, 06-8 for shared cost, 06-9 for premium rate, and other 06 for mobile numbers. 09 was used as the international access code before this changed to 00. The emergency number used to be 06-11.

New Zealand

Country Code: 64

Since 1993, land-line telephone numbers in New Zealand consist of a single-digit area code and seven-digit local numbers, the first three of which generally specify the exchange and the final four a line at that exchange. The long distance prefix is '0'.

There are five regional area codes, which must be used when calling outside the local dialing area, for example from Christchurch to Dunedin in the South Island, the '03' prefix must be dialed first. In many parts of the country, the old area code was incorporated into the new number, hence Nelson (054) xx xxx became (03) 54x xxxx .Or New Plymouth (067) became (06) 75x xxxx - old numbers mostly 5 digit, or 1 series of 6 digit at the Spotswood Exchange of 51x xxx.

024099 Scott Base in the Ross Dependency 03 the South Island and the Chatham Islands 04 Wellington Region except the Wairarapa and Otaki 06 the remaining southern and eastern North Island: - Taranaki - Manawatu-Wanganui except Taumarunui - Hawke's Bay - Gisborne

           - the Wairarapa and Otaki

07 the Waikato, the Bay of Plenty and Taumarunui 09 Auckland and Northland

Mobile phone numbers are prefixed with 02, followed by one digit and the subscriber's number, which is either six, seven or eight digits, dialled in full, e.g. 025 xxx xxx or 027 xxx xxxx.

021 Vodafone 025 Telecom 027 Telecom 028 CallPlus 029 Vodafone/TelstraClear

Free call services generally use the prefix 0800 (although some use 0508) while local rate (usually internet access numbers) have the prefix 08xx. Premium rate services use the code 0900 followed by five digits.

The main international prefix is '00' (there are others for special purposes, such as 0161, for discounted rates). The emergency services number is '111'.

Nigeria

Country Code: 234

The area codes in Nigeria vary between 1 (Lagos and Ibadan) and 3 (for GSM networks) digits long. The non-GSM mobiles are given area codes of the geograhical location where they are registered. To call in Nigeria, you use this format:

xxx xxxx Calls within an area code 01 xxx xxxx Calls outside Lagos +234 1 xxx xxxx Calls outside Nigeria 009 Internation Direct Dialing code

With the advent of Unified Licencing by the Nigeria Commnication Commission, the private telephone operators (Non GSM Telcos) are starting to introduce cross-area code roaming.

0802 & 0808 Vmobile (A Celtel subsidiary) 0803 & 0806 MTN 0804 MTEL 0805 & 0805 Globalcom

Norway

Country Code: 47

Since 1992, land-line and mobile telephone numbers in Norway consist of eight digits, without any area codes. The numbers are apportioned in chunks, which vary in size between a thousand and over a million, among counties and telephone companies.

00 international dialing prefix 01 reserved for future changes 02xxx-09xxx 5-digit non-geographical numbers 100-189 standardised special numbers (e.g. 112 for emergency) 19x operator-specific special numbers 2x xx xx xx geographical numbers, mainly Oslo 3x xx xx xx geographical numbers in south-central counties, except Oppland 4xx xx xxx mobile numbers 5x xx xx xx geographical numbers in south-western counties, including Bergen 6x xx xx xx geographical numbers in south-eastern counties and Oppland 7x xx xx xx geographical numbers in the north, including Trondheim 8x xx xx xx non-geographical numbers (toll-free, voicemail, etc.) 9xx xx xxx mobile numbers

Peru

Country Code: 51

Most area codes in Peru changed on 1 March 2003, providing an area code for each region (national subdivision).

Peruvian area codes are 2 digits long except for Lima (area code 1).

Also on that date, '9' was prepended to existing mobile numbers. Mobile subscriber numbers are now 8 digits in Lima (+51 1 9xxx xxxx) and 7 digits elsewhere (+51 xx 9xx xxxx).

Philippines

Country Code: 63

Main article: Philippine Telephone Area Codes

Poland

Country Code: 48

Polish phone numbers since 5th December 2005 : 10 digits, starting with a 0.

0xx xxx xx xx (within Poland) +48 xx xxx xx xx (outside Poland)

Polish mobile number: 10 digits, starting with 05, 06, 07 and 08.

050 xxx xx xx 051 xxx xx xx 060 xxx xx xx 066 xxx xx xx 069 xxx xx xx 078 xxx xx xx 088 xxx xx xx

Mobile Virtual Network Operators

      0699 xxx xx xx

UMTS : 078 xxx xx xx 079 xxx xx xx

Premium Rate services: 070 xxx xx xx 030 xxx xx xx 040 xxx xx xx

Shared cost numbers: 0801 xx xx xx

Free (for the caller in Poland): 0800 xx xx xx"UTR VSAT, Tekstofon, Fixed SMS" 0 802 xxx xxx

"UAN (universal number)" 0 804 xxx xxx

VPN

     0 806 xxx xxx
    VCC
     0 808 xxx xxx
    VoIP
     0 39x xxx xxx
    NDSI

0 20 xx xx

call box

   0 xx 801 xx xx
   0 xx 802 xx xx
   0 xx 803 xx xx
   0 xx 804 xx xx 

0 xx 805 xx xx

http://www.bip.uke.gov.pl/bipurtip/index.jsp?place=Lead07&news_cat_id=27&news_id=57&layout=11&page=text

Portugal

Country Code: 351

Portugal changed to a closed numbering plan in 1999. Previously, the trunk prefix was '0', but this was dropped, and the area code, prefixed by the digit '2' was incorporated into the subscriber's number, so that a nine-digit number was used for all calls, eg:

xxx xxxx (within Lisbon) (01) xxx xxxx (within Portugal) +351 1 xxx xxxx (outside Portugal) +351 21x xxx xxx (after 1999)

Mobiles similarly changed, with the digits '96' replacing the prefix '0936':

0936 xxx xxx (within Portugal) +351 936 xxx xxxx (outside Portugal) +351 96 xxx xxxx (after 1999)

Other new number ranges include:

10xx Carrier selection codes 700 xxx xxx Personal numbering 8xx xxx xxx Geographic expansion 800 xxx xxx Freephone 80x xxx xxx Shared cost

Romania

Country Code: 40

Main article: Romania Telephone Area Codes

In the last years, landline usage started to drop as the mobile phones market was growing fast. Mobile phone companies were running out of numbers, as both the main mobile companies claimed millions after million of subscribers. Also, due to approaching EU join, the state-owned company was going to lose the landline monopoly. A 2002 reform modified the system to an 10 digits system, of which the first is always a national access code 0:
*the landline Romtelecom numbers start with a two or three digits area code: 21 for Bucharest (like 021-xxx-xxxx) and 2pp for the other counties (like 0233-xxx-xxxx for Neamţ County)
*the new landline companies were granted new area codes starting with 3, e.g. an Astral Telecom landline number will be 03pp-xxx-xxx, using the same two digits (or 1 for Bucharest, as 031-xxx-xxxx) for counties prefix as Romtelecom
*the mobile companies use area codes starting with 7: 72 for Vodafone Romania (previously branded as Connex), 74 for Orange Romania (previously branded as Dialog) etc.; a Connex-Vodaphone number will be 072p-xxx-xxx
*no-charge number area codes is 800 (like 0-800-xxx-xxx)
*extra-charge numbers are starting with 021-89-xxxxx, like a subset of the numbers owned by Romtelecom in Bucharest.Calling from Romania to Romania usually implies using the full 10 digits number, while Romtelecom subscribers can call inside their area code dropping the leading 0 and the area code (a number becomes just xxx-xxxx in Bucharest and xxx-xxx for the rest of the country). Romtelecom county codes were chosen on a geographical order, starting with northern Moldavia (Suceava County had 30), then going southwards to eastern Wallachia, than westwards to southern Transylvania, than northwards, closing the circle, until the biggest prefix, 69 (used for Sibiu County).

Extra-charge SMS are sent to three or four digits numbers, each company having its own system.

Short numbers became are allowed in both the 3 digits and in 4 digits forms, both with a leading 9, like 981 for the ambulance or 9xxx for various cab companies. Each town or county has it own special services, like firefighters, police, with the same number. The station to which these calls are directed is chosen based on location.

Romania joined the European initiative for a continent wide emergency number, 211.

When calling from abroad the leading zero is dropped and replaced with the international access code and the country code, like +40-xxx-xxx-xxx. As usual, only regular landline and mobile phones are accessible from outside Romania.

When calling from Romania abroad, the international access code is 00. Also supported is + for the mobile devices.

Russia and Kazakhstan

Country Code: 7

Under the Russian numbering plan, the trunk code is '8', with subscriber numbers being a total of ten digits long, for example:

xxx-xx-xx (within Moscow) 8 495 xxx-xx-xx (to Moscow from Russia) +7 495 xxx-xx-xx (to Moscow from outside Russia)

A scheme of 8 + 2 + city code + number can be used to dial within a Region. For example, the code for Saratov Region is 845, the city code for Saratov is 2, and the city code for Engels is 3:

xx-xx-xx (within Saratov) 8 22 xx-xx-xx (to Saratov from Saratov Region) 8 8452 xx-xx-xx (to Saratov from outside Saratov Region, within Russia) +7 8452 xx-xx-xx (to Saratov from outside Russia)

xx-xx-xx (within Engels) 8 23 xx-xx-xx (to Engels from Saratov Region) 8 8453 xx-xx-xx (to Engels from outside Saratov Region, within Russia) +7 8453 xx-xx-xx (to Engels from outside Russia)

A short list of examples, set out in the officially approved number groups (it's important to notice that the last four digits of the number are separated into two equal groups, and the area code is written without the dialling prefix 8 and in parentheses): (495) xxx-xx-xx: Moscow (496x) xx-xx-xx: Moscow Region, bigger towns (496xx) x-xx-xx: Moscow Region, smaller towns

(812) xxx-xx-xx: Saint-Petersburg (813xx) x-xx-xx: Leningrad Region

(8452) xx-xx-xx: Saratov, Saratov Region (8453) xx-xx-xx: Engels, Saratov Region

Freephone numbers: 8 800 xxx-xx-xx

Historically, '7' has been used as the Soviet Union country code. Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, all former republics except Russia and Kazakhstan switched to new country codes.

The international access code is 8~10 - callers dial '8', wait for a tone, and then dial '10', followed by the number.

Due to the use of 8 as both the dialling prefix and the first digit of some area codes, sometimes it may be confusing for foreigners to understand the dialling pattern. Moreover, it is not uncommon to see the non-existent area code of 95 in foreign print, instead of the correct 095, due to the fact that 0 is a local dialling prefix across Europe but not yet in Russia (there is already a plan to implement it in Russia, too).

On 1 December 2005, dialling code 095 et al was replaced with 495 et al, so that at a later date it will be possible to adopt the ITU convention of 0 and 00 dialling prefixes for local and international dialling respectively. The old 095 dialling code is to be effective until 31 January 2006. In Russian: Изменения нумерации в зоне 7, [3], [4].

For a historical overview of the telephone numbering plans in connection with the Soviet Union and now Russia, see ‘§ 91. Краткая история телефонных номеров'.

Serbia and Montenegro

Country Code: 381

Serbia and Montenegro received a new country code break up of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992 (which had 38 as country code). An example for calling Serbian telephones is as follows:

xxx xxxx (within Belgrade) (011) xxx xxxx (within Serbia and Montenegro) +381 11 xxx xxxx (outside Serbia and Montenegro)

Year 2006 Montenegro separated from Serbia, and Montenegro will be given a new country code in future.

See Serbian telephone numbering plan

Singapore

Country Code: 65

See Singapore telephone numbering plan

Slovakia

Country Code: 421

See List of Slovak telephone codes

South Africa

Country Code: 27

Main article: South African Telephone Numbering Plan

South Africa has switched to a closed system, although as of 2005 it is still not mandatory to prefix the 3-digit area code for local numbers. The trunk prefix is still '0', with the system generally organised geographically. The numbers were initially allocated when South Africa had four provinces, meaning that ranges are now split across the current nine provinces:

01: Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West 02: Western and Northern Cape 03: KwaZulu-Natal 04: Eastern Cape and eastern parts of the Western Cape 05: Free State 06: Unused, was Namibia until 1992 07: Cellular spill-over 072: Cellular: Vodacom 076: Cellular: Vodacom 073: Cellular: MTN 08: Special services, including 080: Toll-free 081: Current unused (?), was car phones 082: Cellular: Vodacom 083: Cellular: MTN 084: Cellular: Cell C 086: "Sharecall" 087: VOIP 089: Maxicall 09: International access code, being phased out as of May 2002 00: Proposed new international access code

All telephone numbers are 10 digits long (including the 3 for area code), except for certain Telkom special services.

Spain

Country Code: 34

Spain changed to a closed numbering plan in 1998. Previously, the trunk prefix was '9', but this was incorporated into the subscriber's number, so that a nine-digit number was used for all calls, eg:

xxx xxxx (within Madrid before 1998) 91 xxx xxxx (within Spain, Madrid included, after 1998) +34 1 xxx xxxx (outside Spain before 1998) +34 91x xxx xxx (after 1998)

Mobiles similarly changed, prefixed with the digit '6':

909 xxx xxx (within Spain before 1998) +34 09 xxx xxx (outside Spain before 1998) +34 609 xxx xxx (after 1998)

New numbering ranges have also since been introduced:

10xx Carrier selection codes 700 xxx xxx Personal numbering 8xx xxx xxx Geographic expansion 800 xxx xxx Freephone 80x xxx xxx Shared cost

Spain's international access code also changed from 07 to 00, but this did not affect dialing arrangements for calls to Gibraltar, in which the provincial code 9567 is used instead of the international code 350, eg:

9567 xxxxx (Gibraltar from Spain) +350 xxxxx (Gibraltar from all other countries) +34 9567 xxxxx (Gibraltar via Spain)

Sweden

Country Code: 46

In Sweden, the area codes are — excluding the leading '0' — one, two or three digits long, with larger towns and cities having shorter area codes permitting a larger number of telephone numbers in the eight to ten digits used. Before the 1990s, ten-digit numbers were very rare, but they have become increasingly common because of the deregulation of telecommunications, the new 112 emergency number, which required change of all numbers starting with 11, and the creation of a single area code for the Greater Stockholm area. No subscriber number is shorter than five digits.

010: NMT mobile phones 01x(x): South Middle Sweden 020: toll free 0200: toll free 02x(x): North Middle Sweden 03x(x): Central South Sweden 031: Gothenburg 040: Malmö 04x(x): Southern Sweden 05x(x): Western Sweden 06x(x): Northern Sweden 070: GSM mobile phones 071: Premium rate calls 073: GSM mobile phones 0730: GSM mobile phones 074(x): Pagers 076: GSM mobile phones 07x(x): various non-geographical area codes 08: Greater Stockholm 09x(x): Far Northern Sweden and premium rate calls 112: emergency services number

Sweden adopted 00 as its international access code in 1999, replacing 009 and 007.

According to the postal and telecommunication services supervising authority Post- och Telestyrelsen, it seems possible that Sweden will adopt a closed numbering plan in the future.

Switzerland

Country Code: 41
International Prefix: 00

Main article: Swiss telephone numbering plan

In 2002, Switzerland adopted a closed numbering plan, but retained the use of the trunk code 0. The original plan was to dispense with the trunk code completely, so that all calls within Switzerland would only require a nine-digit number. However, this was modified on grounds of cost. The 01 prefix for numbers in Zurich was phased out in favour of 044, with 043 being used for overlay numbers.

Until 1999, Liechtenstein formed part of the Swiss numbering plan, using the area code 075, but in that year it adopted its own international code 423, meaning that calls to and from Switzerland require international dialing. 00... international call 1xx, 1xxx the short numbers (emergengy and some services numbers) 0xx xxx xx xx normal number 0800 xx xx xx toll free 084x xx xx xx share cost 090x xx xx xx Premium rate services

Tanzania

An extensive document of Tanzania numbering plan available here [5]

Turkey

Country Code: 90

Main article: Turkey telephone numbering plan

Turkey went from six (2+4) to seven digits (3+4) local phone numbers c.1988, at which time Ankara went from 41 to 4.There used to be more than 5000 local area codes of varying lengths (one to five digits) with correspondingly varying local number lengths (seven to three digits).

The new system is based on 83 three-digit area codes for provinces and seven digit local phone numbers. Istanbul is the exception and it gets two area codes ((212) for the European and (216) for the Asian side).

0 is the long distance dialing prefix while the international dialing prefix is 00.

Calling a cell phone from out side of Turkey is the same except the three digit numbers are replaced with the ones of the companies. Like [9] + [0] + [cell company id number] + [seven digit number]. The following are the company identification numbers for the major mobile telephone providers: Aria 555, Telsim 542 and Turkcell 532.

Local numbers in most areas were also changed in conjunction with the numbering plan that took effect 1 August 1993.
If a former area code is indicated, this is for the major centre in the new area code's district. The new area codes will also replace former area codes other than the primary one mentioned.

Ukraine

Country Code: 380

Ukraine (similarly to most of ex-Soviet Union countries) employs a four-level (local, zone, country, international) open dialing plan. For all non-local numbers, the required trunk prefix is '8' followed by an auxiliary dial tone after it (optional on digital exchanges), with the following '2' for in-zone calls, '0' for in-country calls to geographical and cell phone zones, none to toll-free, premium-rate and other special zones (e.g. 800, 900, 703, 711), and '10' for international calls.

The in-country sequence for ordinary zones consists of a 2 digit zone code, an optional subzone code (never used for the capital of the geographic region corresponding to a phone zone), an optional filler (0 to 2 "2"s, used to make the whole in-country sequence contain exactly 9 digits) and the local phone number (5 to 7 digits). Mainly for historical reasons, zone codes are very often named with a leading '0', e.g. 044 instead of 44. When dialing from cell phones, the in-country dial sequence (with 80 prefix) is used even for phones of the same provider. Otherwise a call may be placed in the nearest geographic area.

Geographical zones correspond to geographic regions ("oblasti") with exception of Sevastopol which utilizes its own phone zone.

Cell phone numbers can be assigned both within the cell phone provider zone and within a geographic zone. The latter arrangement is used mainly for CDMA phones and for GSM operators selling their connectivity within one city, like GoldenTelecom GSM. Allocation of new GSM cell phone numbers within a geographic zone is very rare now because law requires all incoming calls to be free, including incoming calls to a cell phone.

Some examples of dialed sequences:

xxx-xx-xx (two PSTN phones within Kiev, local number is 7 digits long) x-xx-xx (two PSTN phones inside Brovary, city in Kiev phone zone, local

                     number is 5 digits long)

8~294 x-xx-xx (from Kiev fixed line to Brovary PSTN phone, the same zone,

                     different subzone; subzone code is 94)

8~2 xxx-xx-xx (from Brovary fixed line to Kiev PSTN phone, the same zone,

                     different subzone, empty subzone code)

8~050 xxx-xx-xx (from any Ukraine mobile not roaming or PSTN phone to UMC, cell phone provider) 8~067 xxx-xx-xx (from any Ukraine mobile not roaming or PSTN phone to Kyivstar, cell phone provider) 8~800 xxx-xx-xx (from any Ukraine mobile not roaming or PSTN phone to toll-free number) 8~044 xxx-xx-xx (from any Ukraine mobile nor roaming or PSTN phone outside Kiev phone zone to Kiev) 8~044 94x-xx-xx (from any Ukraine mobile not roaming or PSTN phone outside of Kiev phone zone to Brovary) 8~045 xxx-xx-xx (from any Ukraine mobile nor roaming or PSTN phone outside of Chernihiv phone zone to Chernihiv) 8~032 2xx-xx-xx (from any Ukraine mobile nor roaming or PSTN phone outside of Lviv phone zone to Lviv; the local number is 6 digits long,

                     so "2" is used as a filler to make the whole in-country dial sequence 
                     9 digits long)

+380 44 xxx-xx-xx (mobile international call to Kiev zone or Kiev itself) +380 44 94x-xx-xx (mobile international call to Brovary) +380 32 2xx-xx-xx (mobile international call to Lviv) +380 67 xxx-xx-xx (mobile international call to Kyivstar) 8~10 ... (mobile or fixed international call from Ukraine)

(In the table, tilde sign ('~') means waiting for secondary dial tone.)

Some mobile operators may support additional dialing plans. For example, Kyivstar also supports the following:

xxx-xx-xx (local number at current location of KyivStar mobile - i.e. if the mobile is currently in Kiev this will represent a Kiev number)

 67-xxx-xx-xx       (call from KyivStar subscriber to KyivStar subscriber)

067-xxx-xx-xx (call from KyivStar subscriber to KyivStar subscriber)

Note that law explicitly prohibits trunk calls to a PSTN phone within the same local area in a geographic phone zone (e.g. from Kiev to Kiev), so one cannot dial 8~2 or 8~0xx for this, unless the phone exchange is misconfigured or a special circumstance occurs.

United Kingdom

Country Code: 44

Main article: UK Telephone Numbering Plan

Since April 28, 2001, almost all normal geographic numbers and most non-geographic numbers are 9 or 10 digit (excluding the 0 prefix but including the rest of the area code) the overall structure of the UK's National Numbering Plan is:

01 Geographic area codes 02 Geographic area codes (introduced in 2000) 03 Reserved for area codes 04 Reserved 05 corporate numbering and VoIP services (note: some voip services use 0845, 0870 or geographic numbers). 06 Reserved 07 "Find Me Anywhere" services (mobile phone, pager & personal numbers) 08 Freephone (toll free), Local & National Rate numbers 09 Premium Rate services and multimedia

A short list of examples, set out in the officially approved (Ofcom) number groups:

(029) xxxx xxxx: Cardiff (0131) xxx xxxx: Edinburgh (01382) xxx xxx: Dundee (015396) xxxxx: Sedbergh (01386) xxxxx: Evesham (016977) xxxx: Brampton

In the United Kingdom, area codes are — excluding the leading '0' which is dropped when calling UK numbers from overseas — two, three, four or five digits long, with larger towns and cities having shorter area codes permitting a larger number of telephone numbers in the ten or eleven digits used. Area codes are called "STD" (subscriber trunk dialling) codes.

It is very common to see the + notation being misused — +44 (0)xxx xxx xxxx is not an uncommon occurrence even in official documents. For international callers the number between the brackets is dropped. For callers within the United Kingdom the +44 is dropped and the number between the brackets used. Calling +44 0xxx xxx xxxx will not work from most operators, and the +44 (0)xxx notation is incorrect and should not be used. The correct usage of the + notation in this example of the three-digit geographic code is +44 xxx xxx xxxx.

United States, Canada and West Indies

Main article: North American Numbering Plan

See also: List of North American area codes

In the United States (including its territories), Canada, Bermuda, and most islands in the Caribbean, area codes are regulated by the North American Numbering Plan. Currently, all area codes (officially called numbering plan areas) in the NANP must have 3 digits. Despite being one numbering plan the cost of calling numbers in the NANP (both from inside and from outside) can vary wildly depending on which country of the NANP the code is in so great care is needed on the part of a caller to avoid unexpectedly large bills.

Not all area codes correspond to a geographical area. Codes 8xx (excluding 811 and 899) with the last two digits matching, such as 800, 888, 877, 866, etc., are reserved for toll-free calls. Code 900 is reserved for premium-rate calls (also known as dial-it services, although such services also exist in some places on a local basis using a particular three-digit prefix following the area code, often "976" or "540"). Area code 710 has been reserved for the United States Government, although no lines other than the single telephone number 710-627-4387 ("NCS-GETS") had actually been connected on this code as of 2004. Also, older area codes originally had a "0" or a "1" in the middle.

None of these changes enable the existence of variable length area codes, which are commonplace outside North America. Also see [6].

Mobile phones are allocated numbers within regular geographic area codes corresponding to or close to the subscriber's home or work location, instead of within a distinctive subset of area codes (e.g. 07xxx in the UK) and all the extra costs of mobile telephony must be borne by the mobiles owner (unlike in many countries where calling mobiles costs significantly more than calling landlines). Local number portability (LNP) applies across landline and mobile services. A customer can port a landline number to mobile service and vice-versa.

Dialing plans

Dialing plans vary from place to place depending on whether an area has overlays (multiple area codes serving the same area) and whether the state requires toll alerting (a leading 1+ for toll calls.) The NANPA web site includes dialing plan information in their information on individual area codes.

In areas without overlays and without toll alerting, including California and much of Illinois, New York, and New Jersey, calls within an area code are dialed as seven digits (7D) and calls outside the area code as 1 followed by 10 digits (1+10D). Most areas allow permissive dialing of 1+10D even for calls that could be dialed as 7D. The number of digits dialed is unrelated to whether a call is local or toll.

In areas without overlays and with toll alerting, including most rural states, local calls within the same area code are dialed as 7D, toll calls are dialed as 1+10D. In some places, local calls to other area codes are 1+10D, in others they can be dialed as 10D without the leading 1.

In areas with overlays, local calls are all dialed as 10D. (In New York City, the preferred form is 1+10D but 10D also works.) In areas without toll alerting, all calls to numbers within the caller's area code and overlay codes serving the same area can be dialed as either 10D or 1+10D, while calls to other area codes must be 1+10D. In areas with toll alerting, all toll calls must be dialed as 1+10D.

Most areas permit local calls to be dialed as 1+10D except for Texas which requires that callers know which numbers are local and which are toll, dialing 10D for all local calls and 1+10D for all toll calls. The current profusion of dialing plans is quite confusing, and it appears likely that all areas will converge on 1+10D even in places where other forms are permitted.

External links

* North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA)
* Search Area Code, Time Zone, and Location info on-line or in free download (US and Canada)
* AskYP US Area Code
* World Telephone Numbering Guide
* Free Area Code Information (All NANP)
* Free Area Code Listing (US and Canada)
* LincMad United States Area Code History and Changes
* World Country Code Locator

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