Country Code: +506
International Call Prefix: 00
Before 1994, all phone numbers in Costa Rica were six digits long. The telecommunications monopoly Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad introduced a system in which the telephone numbers in every province were assigned a prefix as follows:
Contents |
| Province/City | Prefix |
|---|---|
| San José and Heredia | 2 |
| Alajuela | 4 |
| Cartago | 5 |
| Puntarenas and Guanacaste | 6 |
| Limón , South of Puntarenas Province and Pérez Zeledón Canton | 7 |
Plus, two other prefixes for mobile phone numbers
| Mobile Phone Standard | Prefix |
|---|---|
| TDMA | 3 |
| GSM | 8 |
Prefix 00 was reserved for international calls, while prefix 9 was assigned to special numbers, such as 9-1-1. Toll-free numbers start with 800 followed by 7 digits while premium-rate numbers start with 900 followed by 7 digits.
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 use numbers starting with 3 and many residents of San Jose province have 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.
8-digit numbers are commonly written two ways: "xxxx xxxx" or "xx xx xx xx"
| Country Code | Number Prefix | Fixed or Mobile | Province | Provider |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22XX | Fixed | San Jose and Heredia | GrupoICE | |
| 23XX | Unallocated | Unallocated | GrupoICE | |
| 24XX | Fixed | Alajuela | GrupoICE | |
| 25XX | Fixed | Cartago | GrupoICE | |
| 2511 | Fixed | Reserved to Universidad de Costa Rica | GrupoICE | |
| 26XX | Fixed | Guanacaste, Central and North Puntarenas | GrupoICE | |
| 27XX | Fixed | Limon and South Puntarenas Province | GrupoICE | |
| 29XX | Unallocated | Unallocated | GrupoICE | |
| 3XXX to 7XXX and 9XXX | Unallocated Mobile or Fixed | Unallocated | Unallocated | |
| 83XX | Mobile GSM and TDMA | Countrywide | GrupoICE - ICECelular | |
| 88XX | Mobile GSM | Countrywide | GrupoICE - ICECelular | |
| 89XX | Mobile GSM | Countrywide | GrupoICE - ICECelular |
| Class | Length | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special | 3 Digits | Service Provider, Government and Services | 110, 113, 115, 118, 119, 124, 134, 155, 187, 193, 197, 199 |
| 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 |
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