 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2012) |
Country Code: +506
Number plan type: closed
As of 2010 the government body in charge of allocations is the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones SUTEL. [1]
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2012) |
Country Code: +506
Number plan type: closed
As of 2010 the government body in charge of allocations is the Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones SUTEL. [1]
Prefix 00 was reserved for international calls, while prefix 9 was assigned to special numbers, such as 911. Toll-free numbers start with 800 followed by 7 digits while premium-rate numbers start with 900 followed by 7 digits.
Before 1994, all phone numbers in Costa Rica were six digits long. The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad, which at that time had the monopoly on telecommunications, introduced a system in which the telephone numbers in every province were assigned a prefix to make them 7 digits long. This numbering system was effective for some time. However, the boom of mobile phone customers since the introduction of GSM around 2000 and the expansion of metropolitan areas caused a serious shortage of available numbers. Thus many GSM-based customers used numbers starting with 3 and many residents of San Jose province had telephone numbers starting with prefixes other than 2.
Since March 20, 2008, a renewed numbering system added the prefix 2 for all landlines and 8 for all mobile phone numbers. This system was implemented in order to face the introduction of 1.5 million 3G W-CDMA customers in Q1 2009. The transition to 8-digit numbers was heavily publicized in Costa Rican media. However, the change caused considerable confusion among foreigners. Also, all calls dialed using the old 7-digit version of the phone number are automatically redirected to a voice message with information about the change.
In 2010, after the end of the government monopoly in telecommunications, prefixes 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 were assigned to private operators.
8-digit numbers are commonly written one of two ways: "xxxxxxxx" or "xxxx-xxxx"
| Number Range [2] | Type of Service | Province | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21XX-XXXX | VoIP | Countrywide | Kölbi |
| 22XX-XXXX | Fixed | San Jose and Heredia | GrupoICE |
| 24XX-XXXX | Alajuela | ||
| 25XX-XXXX | Cartago, San Jose and Heredia | ||
| 2511-XXXX | Reserved to Universidad de Costa Rica | ||
| 26XX-XXXX | Guanacaste, Central and North Puntarenas | ||
| 27XX-XXXX | Limon and South Puntarenas Province | ||
| 3XXX-XXXX | Reserved for private mobile services | Countrywide | Unallocated |
| 4XXX-XXXX | VoIP | Multiple private operators | |
| 4070-XXXX | InterPhone | ||
| 500X-XXXX to 504X-XXXX | Mobile GSM | MVNO's | |
| 570X-XXXX to 571X-XXXX | Tuyo | ||
| 6XXX-XXXX | Liberty | ||
| 7XXX-XXXX | Claro | ||
| 8XXX-XXXX | GrupoICE - Kölbi |
| Class [2] | Length or Range | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special Services | 1XXX | Service Provider, Government and Services | 1110, 1113, 1115, 1118, 1119, 1124, 1134, 1155, 1187, 1193, 1197, 1199, 1719, 1720 |
| Special Services | 18XX,19XX | Outbound call operator selection | 1901, 1902, 1903, 1908 |
| SMS Services | 4 Digit | 3rd Party SMS Content Providers | 7777 |
| 800 Toll Free Numbers | 10 Digits | 3rd Party Company or Organization | 800-286-0101 |
| 900 and 905 Premium-Toll Numbers | 10 Digits | 3rd Party Company or Organization | 900-365-4632 |
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is a telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1 and has the telephone country code 1. Some North American countries, most notably Mexico, do not participate with the NANP.
A toll-free telephone number or freephone number is a telephone number that is billed for all arriving calls. For the calling party, a call to a toll-free number from a landline is free of charge. A toll-free number is identified by a dialing prefix similar to an area code. The specific service access varies by country.
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.
The Australian telephone numbering plan governs the allocation of telephone 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.
Telephone numbers in the People's Republic of China are administered according to the Chinese Telephone Code Plan. The structure of telephone numbers for landlines and mobile service is different. Landline telephone numbers have area codes, whereas mobile numbers do not. In major cities, landline numbers consist of a two-digit area code followed by an eight-digit local number. In other places, landline numbers consist of a three-digit area code followed by a seven- or eight-digit local number. Mobile phone numbers consist of eleven digits.
In Argentina, area codes are two, three, or four digits long. Local customer numbers are six to eight digits long. The total number of digits is ten, for example, phone number (11) 1234-5678 for Buenos Aires is made up of a 2-digit area code number and an 8-digit subscriber's number, while (383) 123-4567 would be an example of a Catamarca number.
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.
Numbers on the Irish telephone numbering plan are regulated and assigned to operators by ComReg.
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.
The dialling plan for mobile networks and new landline operators is closed; all subscriber numbers must be dialled in full. For landline numbers starting with 02, the dialling plan used to be open; the trunk digit and area code could be omitted if the caller was in the same area code as the callee. However, starting May 3, 2008, all landline numbers must be dialled in full.
The Brazilian telephone numbering plan uses a two-digit area code plus eight-digit local phone numbers for landlines and nine digits for mobile lines. Public utility services use short phone numbers, always starting with 1.
Telephone numbers in Malaysia are regulated by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
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).
Telephone numbers in Luxembourg employ a closed dialling system, whereby all numbers are dialed in the same format whether from within Luxembourg or from abroad. There is no trunk prefix like "0".
Telephone numbers in Bulgaria are under a full number dialing plan, meaning that the full national number must be dialed for all calls, while it retains the trunk code, '0', for all national dialling. Area codes are prefixed with a trunk code of 0 only when dialled domestically.
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.
National conventions for writing telephone numbers vary by country. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) publishes a recommendation entitled Notation for national and international telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and Web addresses. Recommendation E.123 specifies the format of telephone numbers assigned to telephones and similar communication endpoints in national telephone numbering plans.
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