Telephone numbers in Italy

Italy telephone numbers

Map of Italy colored according to the landlines area codes
Location
Country	Italy
Continent	Europe
Regulator	Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni
Type	Open
Access codes
Country calling code	+39
International call prefix	00
Trunk prefix	None
List of Italy dialing codes

Telephone numbers in Italy are defined by a telephone numbering plan that is organized by types of services. Landline numbers and mobile phone numbers are easily recognizable: the former start with 0 and the latter start with 3. Other initial digits denote other services, such as emergency and toll-free numbers.

The country code for calling Italy from abroad is 39. The international prefix is 00, as is standard in most European countries. Four different emergency numbers exist, including 112.

Italy uses an open numbering plan in which the length of subscriber telephone numbers varies from six to eleven digits. The dialing procedures for callers mandate that the full telephone number is always dialed, including the area code, which is called prefix (prefisso in Italian).

When communicating phone numbers it is usual to group the digits, but there are no fixed rules for grouping. The same phone number is likely to be written or pronounced differently by different people. Several symbols can be used to group digits; spaces are common, but dots and hyphens are often seen as well.

The minimum number length is 3 digits and the maximum is 12.

Landline numbers start with the digit 0 and are 6 to 11 digits long, although they are rarely shorter than 9. They are composed of a variable length prefix followed by a variable length subscriber number.

Prefixes are assigned on a geographical basis, starting from the north of the country: for example Turin has prefix "011", Rome has "06" and Naples has "081".

Mobile phone numbers start with the digit 3 and are generally ten digits long. It is still possible, but rare, to find nine-digit numbers, which were the first to be assigned.

The first three digits of the mobile phone numbers (prefix) identify the mobile network operator that assigned the number, but since 2002 mobile number portability is possible and thus any number can end up being managed by any operator.