Telephone numbers in the Philippines

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, a body under the Department of Transportation and Communications as an attached agency.

The Philippines is assigned an international dialing code of 63 by ITU-T. Telephone numbers are fixed at seven digits (previously six digits), with area codes fixed at one, two or three digits. When making long-distance calls in the Philippines, append 0 for domestic calls and 00 for international calls.

Fixed-line area codes

Philippine area codes for fixed-line telephones are fixed at two digits, excluding Metro Manila and the province of Rizal, which uses the area code 2. Some smaller carriers concentrated within a specific geographic area may issue four or five-digit area codes. However, these area codes are being phased out in favor of standard two-digit area codes.

Some area codes are shared between multiple provinces. Such would be the case with former sub-provinces, like Guimaras and Iloilo, newly-carved provinces, like Shariff Kabunsuan and Maguindanao, or provinces with small populations, like with Marinduque and Quezon. In extreme cases, area codes are even shared across an entire island, such as with Leyte and Samar, or even an entire region, such as with the Cordillera Administrative Region. In all these cases, area codes are shared to maximize their use. In order to distinguish where the call came from, the three-digit telephone exchange prefix is checked.

Since the Philippines employs an open dial plan, telephone numbers dialed within a given area code do not require the area code, excluding calls made from mobile phones or payphones. When dialing to other area codes, the domestic long distance access prefix 0 would have to be appended. When dialing from overseas, the domestic prefix is not appended. As such, a typical telephone number in Metro Manila and Rizal would look like this:

*Within Metro Manila and Rizal: 1234567
*Outside Metro Manila and Rizal: 02-1234567
*Outside the Philippines: [phone]

Areas are grouped into seven broad areas determining the first digit of a given area code. These areas and their accompanying area codes are listed below:

*2: Metro Manila, Rizal
*3: Cebu (32), Guimaras and Iloilo (33), Negros Occidental (34), Negros Oriental and Siquijor (35), Aklan, Antique and Capiz (36), Bohol (38)
*4: Aurora, Marinduque, Quezon and Romblon (42), Batangas, Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro (43), Bulacan and Nueva Ecija (44), Pampanga and Tarlac (45), Cavite (46), Bataan and Zambales (47), Palawan (48), Laguna (49)
*5: Albay and Catanduanes (52), Biliran, Leyte and Southern Leyte (53), Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur (54), Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar (55), Masbate and Sorsogon (56)
*6: Basilan, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay (62), Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur (63), Cotabato, Maguindanao, Shariff Kabunsuan and Sultan Kudarat (64), Zamboanga del Norte (65), Sulu and Tawi-Tawi (68)
*7: La Union (72), the Cordillera Administrative Region (74), Pangasinan (75), Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur (77), the Cagayan Valley (78)
*8: Davao del Sur (82), Sarangani and South Cotabato (83), Davao del Norte (84), Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur (85), the Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur (86), Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental (87), Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental (88)

Mobile phone area codes

Mobile phone area codes are three digits long and always start with the number 9. Unlike fixed-line telephones, the long-distance telephone dialing format is always observed when using a mobile phone.

Originally, there were only three area codes for mobile phones: 917 for Globe Telecom, 918 for Smart Communications and 973 for Express Telecom, the three existing mobile companies at the time. As service grew rapidly throughout the 1990s and even until today, new codes have been added to fulfill demand as existing codes have since been exhausted. Codes added usually come after the immediate last code exhausted, although this may not be the case when the next code is already in use.

Areas codes are grouped by provider with no single contiguous block of codes for a single provider. These companies and their respective area codes are listed below:

* Express Telecom: 973, 974 (not in use)
* Globe Telecom: 905, 906, 915, 916, 917, 926, 927
* Next Mobile: 979
* Smart Communications: 908, 909, 910, 912, 918, 919, 920, 921, 928, 929
* Sun Cellular: 922, 923
* ümobile: 999

ee also

* List of ZIP Codes in the Philippines

External links

* [http://portal.ntc.gov.ph National Telecommunications Commission]
* [http://www.areacodes.ph Philippine Area Codes]