South African telecommunications company Telkom said on Tuesday that it will comply fully with the legal requirement prescribing mandatory 10-digit dialling and the replacement of 09 with 00 as the international dialling prefix.
This is in line with the minister of communication’s promulgation of a numbering plan prescribed by the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (Icasa) in terms of Section 89 of the Telecommunications Act. The numbering plan was implemented by Icasa earlier on Tuesday.
Parallel running of both changes — that is, the change to 10-digit dialling and the implementation of the 00 international dialling prefix — will commence on October 16 2006. The parallel running period will last for three months up to January 16 2007, when 10-digit dialling and the international prefix 00 become mandatory, Telkom said.
After January 16 2007, misdialled calls will be routed to announcements that will request that callers dial 10 digits when making local and national calls. This will continue until March 16 2007, after which misdialled calls will be routed to a “number unavailable” tone.
Presently, when fixed-line to fixed-line calls are made within the same area (for example, Pretoria) the caller does not have to dial Pretoria’s area code (012). The caller, therefore, needs to only dial a seven-digit local number.
However, in terms of the 10-digit dialling system, the area code for Pretoria (012) will have to precede the number even if the caller and the person being called are both within the Pretoria area. The full number is what is referred to as 10-digit dialling.
“What is essentially needed is a mind-set change where the area code always precedes the fixed-line number. It is identical to a fixed-line call being made from a cellular phone,” explained Lulu Letlape, Telkom’s group executive for corporate communication.
“Cellular numbers already comprise 10 digits, so calls from fixed-lines to cellular phones do not require any dialling changes to be made,” Letlape added.
With regard to international calls, there will be no change to the current dialling procedures for any person telephoning South Africa from overseas. However, outgoing calls will be impacted as any international call being made from South Africa will have to be prefixed by 00 and not 09 as from January 16 2007.
For example, after January 16 2007, a call to the United Kingdom will be prefixed by 00 44 and not 09 44. Both 00 and 09 will be operational during the October 16 2006 to January 16 2007 parallel running period.
Letlape emphasised that no extra costs will be levied for using the 10-digit dialling system or in switching to 00 as the international dialling prefix.
“This national 10-digit dialling system is part of Icasa’s numbering plan, and once implemented, it will increase number capacity, especially in the metropolitan areas, and bring fixed-line dialling in line with the 10-digit standard used by mobile operators,” said Letlape. — I-Net Bridge