Telephone numbers in France

The French telephone numbering plan is not only used for metropolitan France, but also for the French overseas departments and some overseas collectivities.

Country Code: 33
International Call Prefix: 00

In the late 1980s, France changed to a closed telephone numbering plan, with the area code being incorporated into the subscriber's eight-digit number. To call the rest of France from Paris, however, the prefix 16 had to be dialed before the eight-digit number, and to call Paris from the rest of France, the prefix 16 1 had to be dialed.

In 1996, this changed to a ten-digit numbering scheme:

* 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.
* 09 Non-geographic number (used by Voice over IP services, formerly 087 numbers)

Note that the 09 prefix was introduced in September 2006 ( [http://www.art-telecom.fr/uploads/tx_gsavis/06-0866.pdf] ) and older number such as 08 7X XX XX XX are replaced by 09 5X XX XX XX (telephone service offered by Internet Provider "Free").

All geographic numbers had to be dialed in the ten-digit format, even for local calls. The international access code also changed from 19 to 00. Following liberalisation in 1998, subscribers could access different carriers by replacing the '0' (omitted from numbers when called from outside France) with another digit. For example Cegetel required subscribers to dial '7', e.g: Paris 71 xx xx xx xx, instead of 01 xx xx xx xx. Similarly, the international access code using Cegetel would be '70', instead of '00'.

Until 1996, Monaco formed part of the French numbering plan, with eight-digit numbers beginning with 93, but in that year the principality adopted the country code 377. Consequently, all calls from France to Monaco must be dialed in international format 00 377 xx xx xx xx, while calls from Monaco to neighbouring areas in France similarly must be dialed as 00 33 4 xx xx xx xx. In 1994, Andorra had similarly adopted its own country code 376, replacing access via the French numbering plan (+33 628 xxxxx).

The French overseas departments (départements d'outre mer or DOMs), Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Réunion have separate country codes from metropolitan France, although they are treated as part of the French numbering plan, with direct dialing for calls between the DOMs (including "collectivités territoriales") and metropolitan France. Calls between the DOMs and metropolitan France require only the '0' to be dialed.

Since 2001, telephone numbers in the DOMs have followed the same ten-digit format as metropolitan France, with the country code being used as a geographical area code, e.g:

Guadeloupe From France: Fixed phone line: 0590 xxx xxx Mobile phone line: 0690 xxx xxx Outside France: Fixed phone line: +590 590 xxx xxx Mobile phone line: +590 690 xxx xxx

French Guiana From France: Fixed phone line: 0594 xxx xxx Mobile phone line: 0694 xxx xxx Outside France: Fixed phone line: +594 594 xxx xxx Mobile phone line: +594 694 xxx xxx

Martinique From France: Fixed phone line: 0596 xxx xxx Mobile phone line: 0696 xxx xxx Outside France: Fixed phone line: +596 596 xxx xxx Mobile phone line: +596 696 xxx xxx

Réunion From France: Fixed phone line: 0262 xxx xxx Mobile phone line: 0692 xxx xxx Outside France: Fixed phone line: +262 262 xxx xxx Mobile phone line: +262 692 xxx xxx

Before March 30 2007, the "collectivité départementale" of Mayotte used country code +269, shared with the Comoros: From France, including Mayotte: 0269 xxx xxx From Comoros: xxx xxx Outside France and Comoros: +269 xxx xxx

On March 30 2007, Mayotte adopted the +262 code, used by Réunion, and a new numbering range will be introduced for mobile phones: From France: Fixed phone line: 0269 xxx xxx Mobile phone line: 0639 xxx xxx Outside France: Fixed phone line: +262 269 xxx xxx Mobile phone line: +262 639 xxx xxx

Calls to Saint Pierre and Miquelon require only '0', country code and the subscriber's six-digit number, eg: From France: 0508 xxx xxx Outside France: +508 508 xxx xxx

Calls to and from the "territoires d'outre mer", however, require full international dialing, hence the international access code and country code must be used

Paris from New Caledonia: 00 33 1 xx xx xx xx, New Caledonia from Paris: 00 687 xxx xxx

External links

* [http://www.art-telecom.fr/index.php?id=8146 ARCEP: La numérotation] , French official plan
* [http://www.wtng.info/wtng-33-fr.html World Telephone Numbering Guide: France]