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Telephone numbers in Switzerland are defined and assigned according to the Swiss telephone numbering plan administered by the Swiss Federal Office of Communications. The plan has been changed several times and the most recent reorganization was implemented in March 2002.

Telephone numbers in Switzerland
Location
CountrySwitzerland
ContinentEurope
Format0xx xxx xx xx
Access codes
Country code+41
International access00
Long-distance0

Plan of 2002

The Swiss telephone numbering plan implements the ITU-T recommendation E.164 and is designated E.164/2002, based on its last major revision in 2002. It is a closed numbering plan,[1] which means that all telephone numbers, including the area code, have a fixed number of digits. Swiss area codes are officially termed national destination codes (NDC). A complete telephone number consists of ten digits: 0xx xxx xx xx. Two formats are distinguished: three digits for the NDC and seven digits for the subscriber number, and four digits for the NDC and six digits for the subscriber number. However, a few exceptions exist.

The associated dial plan requires that all numbers, even for local calls, must be dialed with the assigned NDC, in contrast to previous plans. When dialing from within the country, a prefix 0 must be dialed.

The plan was amended a few times, e.g., the transition of numbering zone 01 into 044 and 043.

National destination code

The national destination code (NDC) is the area code for Swiss telephone numbers. Within Switzerland the trunk code 0 must be dialed before the NDC, while it is not needed from international locations.

Telephone numbers are portable between numbering zones (ZN) or between mobile operators, and therefore an NDC does not imply that a caller is actually located in a particular zone or is serviced by any particular mobile operator. For landlines it is now merely an indication of the region where the number was originally attributed to a subscriber.

The national destination codes are the following.[2]

Short codes

Short dialing codes are assigned for special services or network features.[3][4]

Alternate proposed plan

Instead of E.164/2002, another more ambitious numbering plan was proposed. In this plan the prefix 0 was discarded, and the area codes were defined differently, with 20 to 49 for geographic areas, 50 to 59 reserved, 60-69 for nationwide numbering, 70-79 for mobile services, 80-89 for shared-cost and toll-free numbers, and 90 for premium-rate services. The plan was not implemented because it required too many phone number and prefix changes, with associated high costs.

Changes

After 2002

The area code 01 was replaced with 044 (Zurich)

Between 1996 and 2002 (plan 2002)

On 29 March 2002 the Swiss dialing plan changed to a closed dialing plan, i.e. the zone prefix become mandatory also for local calls.

Until 1996 (plan 1996)

The previous plan removed a lot of area prefixes and added the seventh digit in phone numbers (usually a phone number (0cc) yx xx xx became (0dd) zzx xx xx).

International borders

The German municipality of Büsingen am Hochrhein, an enclave within the canton of Schaffhausen, uses the Swiss telecom network, with numbers having the prefix 052, alongside that of Germany, from which numbers must be dialled in the international format as 004152.[6]

The Italian municipality of Campione d'Italia, an exclave within the Swiss canton of Ticino, uses the Swiss telephone network and is part of the Swiss numbering plan, although some Italian numbers are in use by the municipal council, which use the same +39 031 numbering range as the town of Como.[7]

Liechtenstein previously used the Swiss telephone numbering plan with the area code 075.[8] (This was dialled as +41 75 from outside Switzerland and Liechtenstein).[9] However, on 5 April 1999, it adopted its own international code +423.[10] Consequently, calls from Switzerland now require international dialling, using the 00423 prefix and the seven-digit number.[11]

References

  1. ^ OFCOM (March 2010). "E.164 national numbering plan of Switzerland". Federal Office of Communications. Archived from the original on 17 May 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
  2. ^ OFCOM (5 May 2009). "Number blocks and codes". Federal Office of Communications. Archived from the original on 15 July 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  3. ^ eOFCOM (5 May 2009). "List of allocated numbers". Federal Office of Communications. Retrieved 5 May 2009.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Swisscom (5 May 2009). "Service Numbers". Swisscom. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  5. ^ (fr) Chronique 1996 p. 8
  6. ^ Übernachten
  7. ^ Comune di Campione d'Italia
  8. ^ International Literary Market Place, R.R. Bowker Company, 1998, page 378
  9. ^ Doing Business in Liechtenstein, Price, Waterhouse Center for Transnational Taxation, 1991, page 123
  10. ^ Legal Guide to Audiovisual Media in Europe: Recent Legal Developments in Broadcasting, Film, Telecommunications and Global Information Society in Europe and Neighbouring States, The Observatory, 1999, page 77
  11. ^ Wandermagazin Schweiz, Volume 72, Issues 5–8, page 25
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