Telephone numbers in the Netherlands

A telephone number in the Netherlands is a sequence of usually 10 decimal digits (0-9) that is used for identifying a destination telephone line in the Dutch telephone network. A Dutch phone number has a particular structure, consisting of an area code (three or four digits) and a subscriber number (six or seven digits). The Netherlands also has non-geographical numbers, used for services and for mobile phones. The country calling code of the Netherlands is +31 (or 0031), and the leading 0 of the area code is dropped when calling from abroad.

Overview and history

Country Code: 31
International Call Prefix: 00

In the Netherlands, the area codes are — excluding the leading '0' — two or three digits long. Since renumbering in 1996, all regular telephone numbers have ten digits including area code and the leading 0. Larger towns and cities have two digit area codes permitting a larger number of local telephone numbers.

010: Rotterdam 013: Tilburg 015: Delft 020: Amsterdam 023: Haarlem 024: Nijmegen 026: Arnhem 030: Utrecht 033: Amersfoort 035: Hilversum 036: Almere 040: Eindhoven 043: Maastricht 050: Groningen 053: Enschede 055: Apeldoorn 058: Leeuwarden 06: mobile phone number 066: mobile pagers 06760: internet access number 070: The Hague 071: Leiden 072: Alkmaar 073: 's-Hertogenbosch 074: Hengelo 075: Zaandam 076: Breda 077: Venlo 078: Dordrecht 079: Zoetermeer 0800: toll free number 084: location independent (used mostly for fax-to-email and voicemail services) 087: location independent 088: location independent (for companies) 0878: location independent (voice over IP) 0900: premium rate, information 0906: premium rate, erotic 0909: premium rate, entertainment 112: emergency services number 14: public authorities 14015: municipality of Delft 18xx: number information

066, 084 and 087 are often used by scammers, because they are easy and cheap to register and make identification very hard.

Previously, 06-0, 06-1000 and 06-4 were used for toll-free numbers, 06-8 for "shared cost", 06-9 for premium rate, and other 06 for mobile numbers. 09 was used as the international access code before this changed to 00. The emergency number used to be 06-11.

Definitions

*Geographical code - A number meant for geographically determined areas
*Non-geographical code - A number meant for non-geographically determined destinations (services and mobile phones)
*Area code - The first three or four digits of a geographical code
*Service code - The first digits of a non-geographical code, used to determine the category of service
*Subscriber number - The part of a geographical code behind the area code or the part of the non-geographical code behind the service code.

Notation

Dutch geographic codes consist of 9 digits. The area code consists of 2 or 3 digits (depending on the size of the area, larger areas have 2 digits, smaller areas have 3 digits), followed by 7 or 6 digits in the subscriber number. Dutch mobile phone numbers consist of 9 digits also, They start with 06, followed by 8 digits.

Dutch non-geographic codes are different from geographic codes. The non-geographic codes in the Netherlands are 06 (Mobile phones and pagers), 0800 (Free service numbers), 084 and 087 (Voicemail and Virtual Private Numbers),088 (Large companies with more than one address), 0900 (Paid information numbers), 0906 (Adult lines) and 0909 (Entertainment).

0800 numbers can always be dialled for free, even from (public) payphones; other numbers starting with 08 are not free.

The non-geographic codes in the Netherlands (besides 06) don't have a fixed number of digits, but are usually kept as short as possible, for the sake of convenience.

Geographic numbers are allocated in blocks to different telecommunications providers. However, a telephone number from a block allocated to a certain provider may not be serviced by that provider anymore due to number portability; subscribers who switch providers can take their number with them.

The emergency number in the Netherlands is 112. GSM mobile phones may accept a different number to dial into the emergency services (such as 999, 000 or 911), depending on their firmware. Directory assistance is available at 1888 (speech recognition) or 1850 (human, more expensive).

Dutch area codes

010 Rotterdam
0111 Zierikzee
0113 Goes
0114 Hulst
0115 Terneuzen
0117 Sluis
0118 Middelburg
013 Tilburg
015 Delft
0161 Rijen
0162 Oosterhout
0164 Bergen op Zoom
0165 Roosendaal
0166 Tholen
0167 Steenbergen
0168 Zevenbergen
0172 Alphen aan den Rijn
0174 Naaldwijk
0180 Ridderkerk
0181 Spijkenisse
0182 Gouda
0183 Gorinchem
0184 Sliedrecht
0186 Oud-Beijerland
0187 Middelharnis
020 Amsterdam
0222 Texel
0223 Den Helder
0224 Schagen
0226 Harenkarspel
0227 Medemblik, Middenmeer as well as Heerhugowaard
0228 Enkhuizen
0229 Hoorn
023 Haarlem
024 Nijmegen
0251 Beverwijk
0252 Hillegom
0255 IJmuiden
026 Arnhem
0294 Weesp
0297 Aalsmeer
0299 Purmerend
030 Utrecht
0313 Dieren
0314 Doetinchem
0315 Terborg
0316 Zevenaar
0317 Wageningen
0318 Ede / Veenendaal
0320 Lelystad
0321 Dronten
033 Amersfoort
0341 Harderwijk
0342 Barneveld
0343 Doorn
0344 Tiel
0345 Culemborg
0346 Maarssen
0347 Vianen
0348 Woerden
035 Hilversum
036 Almere
038 Zwolle
040 Eindhoven
0411 Boxtel
0412 Oss
0413 Veghel
0416 Waalwijk
0418 Zaltbommel
043 Maastricht
045 Heerlen
046 Sittard
0475 Roermond
0478 Venray
0481 Bemmel
0485 Cuijk
0486 Grave
0487 Druten
0488 Zetten
0492 Helmond
0493 Deurne
0495 Weert
0497 Eersel
0499 Best
050 Groningen
0511 Veenwouden
0512 Drachten
0513 Heerenveen
0514 Balk
0515 Sneek
0516 Oosterwolde
0517 Franeker
0518 St. Annaparochie
0519 Dokkum
0521 Steenwijk
0522 Meppel
0523 Hardenberg
0524 Coevorden
0525 Elburg
0527 Emmeloord
0528 Hoogeveen
0529 Ommen
053 Enschede
0541 Oldenzaal
0543 Winterswijk
0544 Groenlo
0545 Neede
0546 Almelo
0547 Goor
0548 Rijssen
055 Apeldoorn
0561 Wolvega
0562 Terschelling/Vlieland
0566 Irnsum
0570 Deventer
0571 Voorst
0572 Raalte
0573 Lochem
0575 Zutphen
0577 Uddel
0578 Epe
058 Leeuwarden
0591 Emmen
0592 Assen
0593 Beilen
0594 Zuidhorn
0595 Warffum
0596 Appingedam
0597 Winschoten
0598 Hoogezand
0599 Stadskanaal
070 The Hague
071 Leiden
072 Alkmaar
073 's-Hertogenbosch
074 Hengelo
075 Zaandam
076 Breda
077 Venlo
078 Dordrecht
079 Zoetermeer

ee also

* Communications in the Netherlands

External links

* The [http://www.ez.nl/Onderwerpen/Elektronische_communicatie/Nummers_en_domeinnamen Ministry of Economic Affairs] is responsible for the Dutch Numbering plan.
* The Independent Postal and Telecommunications Authority ( [http://www.opta.nl/asp/en/numbers/ OPTA] ) manages the available telephone and other numbers and assigns these to telecommunication companies, as well as being the regulatory body governing telecommunications providers in The Netherlands.
* [http://www.detelefoongids.nl/ De Telefoongids] KPN telephone directory, combined white pages and yellow pages