Telephone numbers in New Zealand
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Country | New Zealand (and Pitcairn Islands, UK) |
| Continent | Oceania |
| Type | semi-open |
| NSN length | 8 (landline) 9 (most mobile) |
| Typical format | (0x) xxx xxxx (0xx) xxx xxxx (0xxx) xxx xxx |
| Access codes | |
| Country calling code | +64 |
| International call prefix | 00 |
| Trunk prefix | 0 |
Country calling code: +64
International call prefix: 00
Trunk prefix: 0
The New Zealand telephone numbering plan describes the allocation of telephone numbers in New Zealand. The Pitcairn Islands also use the plan.
Until the 1970s, New Zealand's telephone network consisted primarily of step-by-step telephone exchanges, or a mixture of rotary and step-by-step exchanges in the main centres. A few rural areas were still served by manual exchanges. Crossbar exchanges were installed from the 1970s, and electronic exchanges from 1982. Local telephone number lengths varied from 3 to 6 digits depending on the size of exchange and population of the local calling area.
Numerous complex dialling instructions appeared in the front of telephone books explaining the number sequences needed to dial subscribers in local "free calling" areas, and in a few cases for short distance toll calls (usually to the local city or town), which were recorded on manually read meters in some step-by-step local exchanges. Local calls were "free", and still are for residential customers. Long distance or toll calls required the manual intervention of an operator, who had access to toll circuits, either via an operator's cord board or a toll exchange (switch). Access to the toll operator was by dialling 0.
Local directory service could be accessed via 100, telephone faults via 120, and emergency services via 111.
Subscriber toll dialling (STD) was introduced into New Zealand telephone network in the mid 1970s, a result of the introduction of NEC crossbar based toll exchanges and their ability to perform number translation. One still needed to dial 0 to make a toll call, but instead of calling the operator, one could then dial the STD number directly. Access to the operator was via 010, while other service numbers remained unchanged.
The original STD codes were numbered roughly south to north, with a few exceptions. Some of the STD codes were:
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