The Indian National Numbering Plan
The Indian Numbering Plan is a semi-closed numbering plan. A semi-closed
numbering plan is characterised by slightly varying lengths of digits dialled
to reach subscribers in the country.
To reach PSTN numbers in India, 10 to 12 digits should be dialled after
the international access code of the calling country. Calls to cellular
subscribers in India require 12 digits to be dialled internationally. And
other services like paging require 12 to 14 digits to be dialled. All in
all, reaching a telecommunications network subscriber in India requires
dialling anything between 10 to 14 digits.
Direct Dialling to India
| Country Code |
91 |
| Area Code or Service Identifier |
2 to 4 digits ( 1st digit is 1 to 9 ) |
| Subscriber Number |
4 to 7 digits |
| Minimum digits after area code or service identifier ( celluar service
) |
depends on area code and service ( landline, cellular etc. )
Landline : 2 digit area code - 7 or 8 digit subscriber
number.
3 digit area code - 5 to 7 digits
4 digit area code - 4 to 6 digits
Cellular : 3 digit operator code + 5 digit
subscriber number.
Pager : 96 ( service identifier ) + 2 digit
operator
code + 6 digit subscriber number.
|
Let's see a few examples.....
Calls to PSTN
-
To call a person with the phone number 736-9997 in Chennai, you would have
to dial +91 44 736 9997 - 11 digits, excluding your international access
code. 44 is the area code for Chennai.
-
To call a person in Thrissur, Kerala with phone number 360-188, you would
have to dial +91 487 360 188. 487 is the area code for Thrissur.
Calls to Cellular Subscribers
-
To call a subscriber of AirCel in Tamil Nadu, you would dial +91 98 423
43034. 98 identifies the Indian cellular network, and 423
identifies AirCel in Tamil Nadu, and 43034 is the subscriber number.
-
Cellular subscribers in India can be reached by dialling exactly 12 digits
after the international access code of the calling country.
Calls to Pager Subscribers
-
This is the funny part. In spite of the digits 96 being reserved
for Paging services all over India, to dial a subscriber who has a pager
from Mobilink in Chennai, you would dial +91 44 96 10 339852, where
the pager service identifier 96 is preceeded by the area
code of the location where the paging firm holds a license to operate paging
services. The 10 is the operator code identifying the paging service
of Mobilink, Chennai.
-
To reach a pager subscriber in Madurai, Tamil Nadu with number 96 32 200281,
you would dial +91 452 96 32 200281. 452 is the area code for Madurai.
VSNL, the government-owned entity that handles all telecommunication traffic
between India and the rest of the world, has a more detailed numbering
plan page on its website. I have a copy of the page
for you to see.
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