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| Updated 5 January 2013 | By Country Code | By Country Name | Other WTNG pages | Acknowledgements | ||
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Main Page
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Section Index: | ||||||
This section deals with multinational areas (e.g. Europe, North American Numbering Plan) - items on these page are considered "geographical" in nature.
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African information | - - - |
For information on the background on East African arrangements among Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, see EAPTC section on this page.
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NANP Caribbean Nations | +1 |
Further details on the NANP Administrator and its history are found in its website and in WTNG's general NANP information section.
Area code 809 was originally assigned for the Caribbean and Northwest Atlantic islands that were in the NANP. These individual island nations adopted separate area codes in recent years, thus breaking up the former area code 809 territory (+1 809 in international format).
This territory represents the following nations, with new area code assignments under NANP where known. Appropriate links are made where available. Additional info from Mark J. Cuccia (markjcuccia@yahoo.com).
Sint Maarten island of the Netherlands Antilles (+599) became an autonomous Netherlands nation in 2010. It successfully applied to move its telephone numbers under a new area code in the NANP.
Anguilla +1 264 C E Service Antigua and Barbuda +1 268 C E Service Bahamas +1 242 C E Service Barbados +1 246 C E Service Bermuda +1 441 C E Service British Virgin Islands +1 284 C E Service Cayman Islands +1 345 C E Service Dominica +1 767 C E Service Dominican Republic +1 809 Dominican Republic 809 [retained 809] Dominican Republic +1 829 Dominican Republic [note2] as of July 2005 Grenada/Carricou +1 473 C E Service Jamaica +1 876 C E Service Montserrat +1 664 C E Service Puerto Rico +1 787 C E Service Puerto Rico [note 1] +1 939 -- as of 1 Aug 2001 St Kitts and Nevis +1 869 C E Service St Lucia +1 758 C E Service St Vincent/Grenadines +1 784 C E Service Trinidad and Tobago +1 868 C E Service Turks and Caicos +1 649 C E Service U.S. Virgin Islands +1 340 C E Service[note 1]: Effective 1 August 2001: Area code +1 939 in the NANP will be in service for Puerto Rico on an overlay basis. At that point, local calls within Puerto Rico would have to be dialled as 10-digit numbers. There will be a 6-month permissive phase-in period for the 10-digit dialling prior to the introduction of area code +1 939 numbers. Existing area code +1 787 numbers should remain unchanged.
[note 2]: Effective August 2005 (July 2005 for testing): Area code +1 829 in the NANP added to Dominican Republic on an overlay basis.
Additional information on Caribbean area codes is available on the LincMad page.
Many Caribbean areas are served by carrier Cable and Wireless.
Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) serves five of these nations: Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines.
(additional input courtesy Seth Itzkowitz)
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East African Posts and Telecommunications Corporation | EAPTC |
EAPTC dissolved into separate carrier operators for each country, at some undetermined point (pre-1990s?). Service development and numbering demands eventually meant that the integrated numbering plan could no longer be maintained among the three countries, and so was effectively ended with Tanzania's national renumbering in July 1999.
However, in the interest of preserving convenient dialling access within the East African community of interest, the three countries adopted access codes 005 (Kenya), 006 (Uganda) and 007 (Tanzania). Thus, there remains no need within these East African nations to use international dialling through the country codes +254 (Kenya), +255 (Tanzania) and +256 (Uganda).
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Europe | +388, zone 3 proposal, etc. |
Some information on the EU proposal was announced in a Green Paper.
An article from Communications Week International (edition 176:1) also noted the unified Eurocode proposal. Unfortunately, the link to that article can no longer be found.
More information on European numbering from a EU Bulletin 11-1996 1.3.139 (COM(96)590).
The ERO website maintains a list of legacy ETO documents.
The ETNS country code assignment was supported by the 15 European Union nations, plus Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Switzerland.
ETO (now assumed by ERO) announced March 2000 that country code +388 was assigned by the ITU for use in the ETNS, approved by ITU's Study Group 2.
In September 2001, ITU Recommendation E,164.3 was established to provide procedures for assigning country code ranges for groups of nations, such as the ETNS arrangement.
ITU's +388 3 assignment applies to these 24 nations: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.
In actuality, the ITU assignment of country code +388 was defined as a code to be used by groups of countries, and not specifically identified for Europe (ETNS). The ITU allocated the digit '3' following the +388 country code to identify the ETNS group of countries. All ETNS numbers therefore begin with +388 3.
There were four types of ETNS applications, defined according to the digit following +388 3:
Also a European Union review document on the EU Regulatory Framework for electronic communications networks and services of 28 June 2006 recommended that ETNS be discontinued. See Section 8.2 in that document (Withdrawal of Article 27(2) of the Universal Service Directive on ETNS).
Source: ERO ETNS page, as of September 2006.
See http://www.etns.org for formal ETNS information.
(information/reports courtesy Christian Feldhaus, Claire Milne)
Source: ERO: European Telephony Numbering Space (ETNS) announcement, 3 September 2008
ERO's ETNS page has details on the implementation of ETNS.
Some early reactions to the approval of the ETNS country code were concerned that the ETNS would be made obsolete by Internet websites.
ECTRA requested a country code assignment for the ETNS from ITU. ITU Study Group 2 endorsed the assignment at a meeting in San Francisco, January 1996 as reported in OFTEL Numbering Bulletin 20.
A field trial of ETNS (+388 3) began in 1999. ETO reported at that time the CEPT Information Desk had a ETNS number, reachable from certain participating carriers. Charges would be limited to a maximum of respective callers' national rates. The intention is to use ETNS for pan-European services, and should not be confused with earlier (and currently abandoned) proposals to unite European Union nations under a common country code.
A Network Operators Bulletin (April 1999) makes reference to field trials for pan-European services, as featured at an April 1999 World Telemedia Show in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The International Telecommunication Users Group (INTUG) also has a press release and an information section on +388. Also, links to CWI articles regarding the implementation of +388 3:
Some nations still retain their previously-established emergency numbers in parallel e.g. 999 in the UK.
Further information is available at www.sos112.info.
A radio report on European numbering changes.
Various European Union-related documents:
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North American Numbering Plan | +1 |
American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada and Carricou, Guam, Jamaica, Montserrat, (Commonwealth of the) Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States.
The term NPA or Numbering Plan Area, means the three-digit area code used in the NANP.
(NANPA Planning Letter PL-436, 17 April 2012).
30 September 2011: Sint Maarten +1 721 area code introduced, replacing +599 (former Netherlands Antilles access).
15 December 2010: NANPA begins the assignment of numbers in +1 544 for personal communication services, due to lack of remaining numbering capacity in +1 500 and +1 533. (NANPA Planning Letter PL-416, 17 December 2010; news tip courtesy Sergiu Rosenzweig).
9 October 2010: +1 855 activated for freephone numbers, to supplement +1 800, +1 888, +1 877, +1 866. This is the first freephone code to be implemented since +1 866 in July 2000 (NANPA Planning Letter PL-412, 1 October 2010; news tip courtesy Sergiu Rosenzweig).
23 May 2008: NANPA announces that the capacity of the personal numbering range under +1 500 (SAC 500) is expected to be fully assigned by late-2009. It is expected that new range +1 533 will be introduced for expansion of non-geographic personal numbering services, at a date to be determined. (NANPA Planning Letter PL-379, 23 May 2008).
3 March 2003: NANPA announces that NPA codes 886 and 889 (+1 886, +1 889) will no longer be assigned for use for Non-Dialable Toll Points (NDTPs). These were special codes which could not be dialled by regular customers, but were used by carriers and operators to facilitate connections with remote stations.
+1 886 and +1 889 ranges are available for re-assignment as of 1 July 2003. NDTPs assignments were effectively removed since a 1996 telecom industry (INC) decision to eliminate NDTP assignments. It is unclear what arrangements have replaced the NDTP assignments, although many such places would likely be dialable by now, perhaps by incorporation into other exchanges or through wireless and satellite connections.
Source: Planning Letter PL-329 of 3 March 2003 (PDF format).
(info courtesy NANPA; news tips from Jack Decker)
A fifth toll-free service code 855 was assigned, but has not yet entered service. This was originally scheduled to be activated 18 November 2000 but the implementation is delayed indefinitely. (Update courtesy Mark Cuccia).
29 July 2000: Fourth toll-free service code 866 enters service throughout NANP. April 2000: Toll-free service codes 866 and 855 were originally reported for simultaneous activation. However, actual implementation of 866 and 855 would be separately timed (see above). Test numbers for various carriers announced by NANPA.
23 February 2000: A Planning Letter from the NANP Administrator has formally announced the expected assignment of 822, 833 and 844 for toll-free services, to be implemented at a future undetermined date. Check NANPA for document PL-NANP-214.
See references in ATIS press release, or Response Marketing Group article. 17 November 1999: The US telecom regulator FCC approved a switch of the North American Numbering Plan Administrator functions from Lockheed-Martin IMS (Communication Industry Services (CIS) division) to NeuStar, a company financed by private equity investor firm Warburg Pincus.
NeuStar will be responsible for assignment and management of area codes and will also manage the local number portability database as Local Number Portability Administrator (LNPA).
Also see announcement of NeuStar spin-off news (via NPAC site).
4-5 April 1998: A third toll-free service code, 877, entered into service. More information in an ATIS press release (1), ATIS press release (2).
January 1998: New NANPA webpage is active, now the official site of NANP information as Lockheed-Martin assumed administration from Bellcore (now called Telcordia).
1997: Announcement that Lockheed-Martin will assume administration of the NANP from Bellcore (today known as Telcordia).
1 March 1996: The existing toll-free 800 service code was supplemented by a new 888 service code to allow for assignment of more toll-free telephone numbers.
Special assignments of 880 and 881 codes are designed to allow for "sent-paid" access to 800 and 888 numbers respectively. These are used in cases where a caller does not have access to a toll-free number (usually when calling from a nation other than where the toll-free number is located). Telecom carriers may use 880 or 881 to allow access to the toll-free party, but at a toll charge.
The U.S. telecom regulator FCC also has background information on the new 888 code.
1 January 1995: Area codes are a fixed three digits in length, followed by fixed-length 7-digit phone numbers. Until 1995, only the digits 0 or 1 could be used in the second digit of an area code (e.g. 212, 709). Since the number of area codes available for assignment was restricted, and demand for new area codes has increased dramatically, the restriction on the second digit was removed in 1995 (e.g. 334, 250 can now be used for area codes).
19 May 1994: Service Access Code 500, a special area code (+1 500) is announced for use by Personal Communications Services to provide location-independent numbering. (Source: Bellcore Letter IL-94-05-005 - Assignment of SAC 500 for PCS).
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Soviet Breakup | +7, +37x, +380, +99x |
In the table, "Effective" means the date at which the country code began service (which could vary according to the nation). "Mandatory" means the date at which the country code 7 is invalid for calls to that nation. There are a number of question marks since exact dates have not been collected in all cases, or some new country codes have do not have known implementation dates yet. Check the WTNG entries for individual nations for any further details.
CC Nation Effective Mandatory Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- +370 Lithuania 1993? ??? Announced Jan 1993 +371 Latvia 1993? ??? +372 Estonia 1 Feb 1993? March 1993? +373 Moldova 1993? ??? Announced Jan 1993 +374 Armenia 1 May 1995 1 July 1995 Announced Jan 1995 (ITU) +375 Belarus 16 Apr 1995 1997? +380 Ukraine 16 Apr 1995 Oct 1995? +7 Kazakhstan (no known changes) +7 Russia (presumably not changing) +992 Tajikistan 25 Mar 1999 1 Mar 2000? Announced 1996-7? +993 Turkmenistan 3 Jan 1997 3 Apr 1997 Canada as of 29 Nov 1996 +994 Azerbaijan Sept 1994? ??? Announced 1992 +995 Georgia 1994? ??? ref: Telecom Digest Oct 1994 +996 Kyrgyz Republic 1 May 1997 ??? ref: Stentor Canada/CRTC +998 Uzbekistan 1 Oct 1998 1 Jun 1999? Announced 1996? (ITU)
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United States Pacific Islands | +1 (670), +1 (671), +1 (684) |
Area Code: 3 digits Subscriber Number: 7 digits
NANP area codes +1 670, +1 671 and +1 684 correspond to the former country codes +670, +671 and +684. That is, these islands replaced their country codes with area codes in the NANP.
Territories that join the NANP were expected to relinquish their existing country codes according to apparent NANP administration policy.
Subscriber numbers for NANP also need to conform to the standard 7-digit format, within each area code. This has been the case throughout the United States Pacific Possessions (i.e. American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands) plus three United Nations Pacific Islands (Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau).
See Mark Cuccia's report on the US/UN Pacific Islands for detailed information and background on these and other Pacific territories, as done for TELECOM Digest vol 16 #583. This includes detailed lists of central office or "exchange" codes for Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and other regional islands.
See also general NANP information.
(Acknowledgements to Mark Cuccia for valuable information on these territories.)
American Samoa carrier is American Samoa Telecommunications Authority.
See American Samoa page for details.
See also: Bellcore PL-010 - +1 670 Northern Marianas (CNMI) (September 1996) and Bellcore PL-004 - +1 671 Guam (August 1996)
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