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A toll-free telephone number or freephone number is a telephone number that is billed for all arriving calls instead of incurring charges to the originating telephone subscriber. For the calling party, a call to a toll-free number from a landline is free of charge.
A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, reachable by a system of destination code routing. Telephone numbering plans are defined in each of the administrative regions of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and in private telephone networks.
Telephone numbers in the United Kingdom are administered by the Office of Communications (Ofcom). For this purpose, Ofcom established a telephone numbering plan, known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, which is the system for assigning telephone numbers to subscriber stations.
The Australian telephone numbering plan describes the allocation of phone numbers in Australia. It has changed many times, the most recent major reorganisation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority taking place between 1994 and 1998.
The French telephone numbering plan is used in Metropolitan France, French overseas departments and some overseas collectivities.
Telephone numbers in Hong Kong are mostly eight-digit. Fixed land line numbers start with 2 or 3, mobile (cellular) phone numbers with 5, 6, 7 or 9, pager numbers with 7 and forwarding service with 8. Since the end of 1989, there have been no area codes within Hong Kong.
Telephone numbers in Singapore, also known as the National Numbering Plan, are regulated by the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA). Due to the small geographical size of Singapore, there are no area or trunk codes; all numbers belong to one numbering area, and thus come in the same 8-digit format. Numbers are categorised based on the first digit, thus providing ten possible categories, of which six are currently in use and the remaining four reserved for future usage.
Regulation of the telephone numbers in Serbia is under the responsibility of the Regulatory Agency of Electronic Communication and Mail Services (RATEL), independent from the government. The country calling code of Serbia is +381. The country has an open telephone numbering plan, with most numbers consisting of a 2- or 3-digit calling code and a 6-7 digits of customer number.
Telephone numbers in Europe are managed by the national telecommunications authorities of each country. The country calling codes start primarily with 3 and 4, however, some countries that by the Copenhagen criteria are considered part of Europe have country codes from the Asia range, starting with 9.
Telephone numbers in the Philippines follow an open telephone numbering plan and an open dial plan. Both plans are regulated by the National Telecommunications Commission, an attached agency under the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
The regulation of telephone numbers in Germany is the responsibility of the Federal Network Agency of the German government. The agency has a mandate to telecommunications in Germany and other infrastructure systems.
Telephone numbers in India are administered under the National Numbering Plan of 2003 by the Department of Telecommunications of the Government of India. The numbering plan was last updated in 2015. The country code "91" was assigned to India by the International Telecommunication Union in the 1960s.
Telephone numbers in Russia are under a unified numbering plan with Kazakhstan, both of which share the international code +7. Historically, +7 was used as the country calling code for all of the Soviet Union. Following the Soviet break-up, all of its former republics, save for Russia and Kazakhstan, switched to new country codes. Following Abkhazia's secession from Georgia, Abkhazia switched to the Russian telephone codes +7 840 for landlines and +7 940 for mobile phones, though it still can be reached via the Georgian telephone code +995 44.
The national conventions for writing telephone numbers vary by country. While international standards exist in the form of the International Telecommunication Union sector ITU-T issued recommendation E.123, national telephone numbering plans define the format and length of telephone numbers assigned to telephones.
Namibia's telephone numbering plan was originally devised when the country, then known as South West Africa, was under South African administration, and integrated into the South African telephone numbering plan.
North Macedonia's telephone numbering plan is the system used for assigning telephone numbers in North Macedonia. It is regulated by the Agency for Electronic Communications (AEK), which holds responsibility for telecommunications.
Eswatini, then known as Swaziland, was allocated the country code +268 by the International Telecommunication Union, in the late 1960s. To call a telephone number in Eswatini, the following format is used:
References
- ↑ White Book, Volume 2, Part 1, International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee, International Telecommunication Union, 1969, page 29
- ↑ Pretoria Telephone Directory, Department of Posts and Telecommunications, 1991, page 21
- 1 2 3 International Numbering Resources : National Numbering Plans : Botswana, ITU-T
