Dominica Route

Lucrative route connecting with the island of Dominica is now available. Please contact routes@iprs.com for more info.

IPRS is an International Premium Rate Telecommunications Carrier specializing in providing Premium Rate Numbers, services and termination from over 250 countries and territories globally including Dominica . IPRS.COM can supply domestic and international telemedia numbers from Dominica delivered to your own equipment, terminated onto our own IVR platform, or terminated directly onto the Internet.

Unified Numbering Plan Proposal (+3)

There was a proposal within the European Union to create a unified numbering
area with country code 3 and incorporating the various EU national telephone
systems. In early 1997, it was decided that this undertaking would be
too ambitious, at least in the short term. More information is on this

.

Some information on the EU proposal was announced in a

.

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

.

1 January 2001: ERO assumes ETO functions

The European Telecommunications Office (ETO) was disbanded on 1 January 2001
and its functions assumed by the

.

The ERO website maintains a list of

legacy ETO documents.

2000-2010: European Telephony Numbering Space +388 3

European Telephony Numbering Space (ETNS) was a special Europe-wide
country code based numbering assignment that was active from 2000 and
will be fully decommissioned in 2010.

History

ECTRA (a European body) proposed that country code +388 be assigned for
a European Telephony Numbering
Space (ETNS), applicable throughout Europe for Europe-wide services.
This code would supplement, but not replace, existing country codes used by
each European nation. One advantage is that companies could replace different
numbers from different European countries with a single +388 number.

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:

• +388 3 1 Public Service Applications (PSA) - followed by 3 digits
• +388 3 3 Customer Service Applications (CSA) - followed by 7 digits
• +388 3 5 Corporate Networks (CN) - followed by 9 digits
• +388 3 7 Personal Numbering (PN) - followed by 9 digits

Source:
ETNS code 3883 history (from ERO)

(Additional source courtesy Fritz-Heinrich Dieckhöner)

8 July 2005 - ETNS work halted

The European Radiocommunications Office's Electronic Communications
Committee suspended work on ETNS in June 2005, due to "weaknesses" in
the numbering scheme. New European Service Identities (the digit
following +388) are no longer being assigned. While ERO and ETNS have
not formally cancelled ETNS, its future is in doubt, particularly
given BT's opinion to discontinue ETNS (see

BT Response to 2006 Review of EU Electronic Communications Framework).

Also a European Union

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:

, as of September 2006.

See http://www.etns.org for formal
ETNS information.

(information/reports courtesy Christian Feldhaus, Claire Milne)

31 December 2010 - +388 3 formally

+388 3 will be formally vacated and reclaimed by ITU on 31 December 2010.
There are no longer any assignments of new ETNS numbers, with specific
activities to disband the ETNS services to be determined "in the forthcoming
months".

Source:

ERO: European Telephony Numbering Space (ETNS) announcement,
3 September 2008

ETNS - additional background

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 Study Group 2 endorsed the assignment at a meeting in San Francisco,
January 1996 as reported in

.

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

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

and an

on +388.

Also, links to CWI articles regarding the implementation of +388 3:

• Common code
  for Europe is panned, CWI, 18 June 2001
• Dial 388 for
  Europe's new regional code, CWI, 20 March 2000

112 Emergency Number

112 is Europe's common emergency number as adopted by the European Union.

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.

Other European Information:

which handles some telecommunications functions.

A
radio report on European numbering changes.

Various European Union-related documents:

• 112
  as standard Europe emergency number (91/396/EEC)
• 00 as
  standard Europe international access code (92/264/EEC)
• European
  Co-Operation on Telecom Numbering (92/C318/02)

  (This proposes a European
  Numbering Office (ENO))

• Green
  Paper on Mobile Services (caution: 562k document size)
• European Union
  Green
  Paper on a numbering policy for telecommunications

ETNO Common Positions:

• #4 - European-wide cooperation
  in telecommunications numbering
• #11 - Creation of European
  telecom numbering area
• #12 - International Freephone
  Service
• #31 - ECTRA consultation
  regarding European telecom numbering
• #47 - On the European
  Commission Green Paper on Numbering Policy for
  Telecommunications Services in Europe
• #57 - On
  the Numbering and Service Aspects of Harmonised European Short Codes

North American Numbering Plan

+1

Overview

North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is the formal name for the telephone
numbering system used in country code +1 (equivalent to World Zone 1).
The NANP countries and territories are:

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,
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.

Number Format

(NXX) NXX XXXX - fixed-length 10-digit national numbers: 3-digit area codes
followed by 7-digit local numbers.

Developments

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 tip 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)
Also see

.

29 July 2000: Fourth toll-free service code 866 enters service throughout
NANP.
See

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

, or

.

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

,
a company financed by private equity investor firm Warburg Pincus.

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

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

,

, or

.

January 1998: New NANPA webpage
is active, now the official site of NANP information as
Lockheed-Martin
assumed administration from

(now called Telcordia).

1997: Announcement that Lockheed-Martin
will assume administration of the NANP from

(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).

Related Websites...

• A NANP Administration website (active
  as of January 1998).
• Telcordia, formerly
  Bellcore

  ,
  is the former NANP administrator. This company may continue to provide
  special consultation and services for telephone numbering and call rating
  matters.

• Traffic Routing Administration (TRA)
  is an operation of Telcordia. It
  provides products and data for numbering, call routing and call rating
  purposes. Some downloadable documents and data for NANP numbering are available
  via this site.
• C E Service (formerly Rifton)
  information on area code splits, including lists exchanges involved
• Area Code check
  to assist if a number's area code may have changed. [Jan 2002]
• areacode-info.com - with area
  code changes and histories. (New website as of late 1997).
• ATIS deals with NANP issues in their
  various committees:
  Carrier
  Liaison Committee (CLC)

  ,

  The
  Ordering and Billing Forum (OBF)

  .

• This is a handy
  Fone Finder

  for looking up telephone exchanges and areas.

• Federal Communications Commission (U.S.A.
  telecom regulator)
• Information on North American Numbering
  Council (NANC)

  , a council of the FCC to advise on the administration
  of the North American Numbering Plan.

• FCC
  fact sheet on area codes
• Teltronics
• Steve Grandi's
  new area codes list
• Bellsouth has various press releases
  and notices on new area codes in its territory.
• A prefix (exchange) location locator from TheDirectory
• There is a NANP number lookup computer program for Windows. The NPA
  for Windows site has details.
• More North American toll-free information is available via ICB
  Toll Free.
• National Association of Regulatory Utilities
  Commissions, which has links to state regulatory agencies that often
  oversee telecom matters such as numbering.

Soviet Breakup

+7, +37x, +380, +99x

Below is a summary of the country codes that have been assigned in the
wake of the USSR dissolution.

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)

Notes

• Kazakhstan does not have a known separate
  country code assignment at present. It remains in country code +7 for the
  time being.
• Russia seems destined to keep country
  code +7.

Details courtesy Toby Nixon, ITU, Stentor (Canada), CRTC (Canada), Telecom
Digest (including information collected for the country code listings,
Vince Humphries.)

United States Pacific Islands

+1 (670), +1 (671), +1 (684)

Number Format

Area Code:         3 digits
Subscriber Number: 7 digits

Background

Three U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean are notable in that
these were once assigned separate country codes, but are now
assigned area codes under the
North American Numbering Plan (NANP, +1):

• American Samoa (+1 684, formerly +684)
• Guam (+1 671, formerly +671)
• Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (+1 670, formerly +670).

The NANP substantially increased the number of available area codes
in the mid-1990s. Since then, it was proposed that new area codes could
be assigned to reach territories not previously included in the NANP
such as U.S. Pacific islands.

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

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.)

2 October 2004 - American Samoa joins NANP

American Samoa is scheduled to move
to the NANP as of 2 October 2004. Country code +684 will be replaced by
+1 684 (NPA/area code 684). American Samoa uses 7-digit subscriber numbers
and can be easily integrated into the NANP. +684 was permissively allowed
until the NANP +1 684 code became mandatory on 2 April 2005.

American Samoa carrier is
American Samoa
Telecommunications Authority.

See American Samoa
page for details.

1 July 1997 - Guam and Northern Marianas join NANP

Bellcore officially announced that Guam (+671) and Northern Marianas
(+670) would be incorporated into the NANP. These codes began service on
1 July 1997. The international country codes were to be removed from service
as of 1 July 1998, making use of NANP mandatory for these islands.

See areacode-info.com pages on

and

.

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