Changing landline area codes from February 11, 2017

The area code conversion for 63 provinces and cities will end on August 31, 2017. The Ministry of Information and Communications believes that the area code conversion will have very little impact on users.

The Minister of Information and Communications has just issued a decision on the Area Code Conversion Plan. Accordingly, the area code conversion roadmap is divided into 3 phases, starting from the date 11/2/2017Each phase must carry out 4 steps including announcement on media, implementing technical measures to dial in parallel for 30 days, maintaining notification sound for at least 30 days from the end of parallel dialing, ending notification sound - calls are only successful when users dial according to the new area code.

Fixed telephone area codes will start to change from February 11, 2017. Illustration photo

Phase one started from February 11 and ended on April 14, 2017, including 13 provinces and cities: Son La, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Dien Bien, Yen Bai, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh.

Phase 2 of area code conversion of 23 provinces and cities: Quang Ninh, Bac Giang, Lang Son, Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Thai Nguyen, Bac Can, Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Hai Phong, Ha Nam, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Ninh Binh, Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Can Tho, Hau Giang, Tra Vinh, An Giang, Kien Giang, Soc Trang. Implementation time is from April 15 to June 16, 2017.

Phase 3 of area code conversion of 23 provinces and cities including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Binh Thuan, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Kon Tum, Dak Nong, Dak Lak, Lam Dong, Gia Lai, Vinh Long, Binh Phuoc, Long An, Tien Giang, Binh Duong, Ben Tre, Tay Ninh, Dong Thap. Implementation time from June 17 to August 31, 2017.

Only the area codes of 4 provinces: Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Hoa Binh, Ha Giang remain the same.

According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, adjusting the telecommunications numbering plan is normal and necessary. Countries around the world usually adjust their numbering plans every 10-15 years to better meet development needs. Vietnam first built and issued the numbering plan in 2006, after opening up and eliminating business monopolies in the telecommunications sector. Therefore, to avoid affecting users while still ensuring the numbering plan is used within 10 years, the 2006 plan kept the existing area codes and network codes intact.

However, in the process of separating and merging provinces and cities, the length of Vietnam's area codes is inconsistent. "Some provinces have 3-digit area codes, while others have only one or two digits, so when making long-distance calls within the country or from mobile networks to landlines, sometimes dialing 10 digits, sometimes dialing 11 digits, leading to confusion and difficulty in remembering. This is not in line with international practice," said the Ministry's leader.

Previously, since 2014, to resolve the above shortcomings, the Ministry issued an amendment to the 2014 Telecommunications Numbering Plan to adjust area codes and network codes. This adjustment not only resolves the above shortcomings but, according to the management agency, also helps users remember easily and avoid confusion. Along with that, the Ministry also explained that adjacent provinces and cities are grouped into one area code group (for example, area code group 20x is the Northeastern provinces), opening up the opportunity to easily reduce the area codes nationwide from 63 to about 10 areas. At that time, people can easily benefit because calls within the same area code only have to pay low fees.

In addition, according to the Ministry, after implementing the plan, all area codes will be moved to the 2nd prefix, many prefixes will be collected to convert 11-digit mobile subscribers to 10-digit ones. This will help limit junk SIMs and junk messages.

The Ministry of Information and Communications said that the area code conversion will not affect the number of subscribers but will remain the same. That means when making calls within the country, from landline to landline within a province or city, there will be no change.

Long-distance calls, mobile calls and international calls to landlines will be affected by this plan. For these calls, the old area code must be replaced with the new area code.

According to reports from telecommunications businesses, the total traffic of inter-provincial calls from mobile phones and from international calls to Vietnamese landlines only accounts for about 1.6% of Vietnam's total telecommunications traffic.

"Thus, the actual impact on calls is not much. The affected subjects are mainly concentrated in the block of agencies, businesses, and organizations. In addition, some organizations and individuals affected may have to remake products associated with area codes such as: business cards, packaging, advertising signs...", the Ministry of Information and Communications commented.

According to VNE