Telephone numbers in France

France telephone numbers

5 geographic zones
Location
Country France
Continent Europe
Access codes
Country calling 33
International prefix 00
Trunk prefix 0
Dial plan
Regulator ARCEP
Type Closed
NSN length 9
Typical format 0X XX XX XX XX

The French telephone numbering plan is not only used for metropolitan France but also for the French overseas departments and some overseas collectivities. October 25 1985, France changed to a "closed" telephone numbering plan, with the area code 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:

The 09 prefix was introduced in September 2006[1] and older numbers 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 are dialed in the ten-digit format, even for local calls. The international access code also changed from 19 to the International Telecommunication Union's recommended 00, bringing France into in line with many other countries. 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'.

When calling France from abroad, the leading zero should be omitted: to call a number in Southwest France, one would dial +33 5 xx xx xx xx.

Contents

Andorra and Monaco

Until 17 December 1994, Andorra formed part of the French numbering plan, with numbers beginning with (0)628, after which the principality adopted the country code 376. Consequently, all calls from France to Andorra must be dialed in international format 00 376 plus the phone number, while calls from Andorra to France similarly must be dialed as 00 33 plus the 9-digit phone number. On 21 June 1996, Monaco similarly adopted its own country code 377, replacing access from France (+33 93).

Overseas Departments and Territories

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. Guadeloupe shares its country code with the collectivities Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin). 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:

Guadeloupe, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin 
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 was 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, e.g.:

From France: 0508 xxx xxx
Outside France: +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

References

  1. ^ art-telecom