Telephone numbers in France
5 geographic zones
|
|
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Continent | Europe |
| Regulator | ARCEP |
| Type | Closed |
| NSN length | 9 |
| Typical format | 0X XX XX XX XX |
| Access codes | |
| Country calling code | 33 |
| International call prefix | 00 |
| Trunk prefix | 0 |
The French telephone numbering plan is not only used for metropolitan France but also for the French overseas departments and some overseas collectivities.
The plan uses a ten-digit closed numbering scheme, where the first two digits denote the area:
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 line with many other countries.
When calling France from abroad, the leading zero should be omitted: for example, to call a number in Southwest France, one would dial +33 509758351.
French people usually state phone numbers as a sequence of five double-digit numbers, e.g., 0x xx xx xx xx (and not, for example, 0 xxx xxx xxx).
On October 25, 1985, France changed to a system of two areas: outside Paris the old area code was incorporated into the subscriber's eight-digit number; for Paris, the code "1" was retained, and a digit "4" was added to the front of seven digit numbers - for example, (fictional) Paris number 16 1 234 56 78 became 16 1 42 34 56 78. For numbers in the Île-de-France surrounding Paris, the old codes "3" and "6" joined the old seven digit numbers to become eight digit numbers and were assigned to the Paris area code "1". To call the rest of France from Paris, however, the trunk prefix "16" had to be dialed before the eight-digit number, and to call Paris from the rest of France, the prefix "16" had to be dialed, followed by the area code for Paris "1" and the eight digit number.
In 1996, this changed to the present ten-digit system.
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".
The 09 prefix was introduced in September 2006 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").
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