Johannesburg’s phenomenal growth rate is the reason why, from this week, you have to punch in an area code every time you make a call.
Of the eight million fixed-line phone numbers available for allocation to Johannesburg residents, only 800 000 are still unallocated — not the most desirable of circumstances for the launch of Neotel, the second fixed-line operator.
Tana Kekana, the numbering officer for the communications authority Icasa, says Telkom has already been allocated just more than seven million numbers, while Neotel has a preliminary allocation of 150 000 numbers in Johannesburg.
Kekana says the new 10-digit numbering plan will free up an additional 12-million numbers to be allocated in Johannesburg. Ten million of these will result from the introduction of an additional area code — 010 — for Johannesburg.
The other two million will be freed up by allowing seven-digit telephone numbers to begin with a zero or a one. In the old seven-digit numbering plan, a phone number beginning with one indicated that the number was going to be a short code, for example 1023 for directory enquiries or 1026 for the time.
A number beginning with zero indicated that the number was either going to be a national or international call.
Customers making international calls will now have to dial the international dialing code 00 instead of 09. This will have an impact on businesses that have their own telephone exchanges that currently block international calls by barring 09 numbers.
Telkom has warned that the numbering plan changes will affect customers who have programmed speed-dial settings, dial-up internet or house-alarm systems that call for armed response via the phone line.
George Koster, the technical manager for Chubb Security’s Southern Johannesburg head office, says that customers who have had their alarms installed more than two years ago need to call the control centre to test if their alarm dial-out will work on the new 10-digit system. Kevin Whateliey from Fidelity Springbok Security says security companies should have started switching numbers six months ago.
Gregg Massel from the Internet Service Providers Association (Ispa) says the new 10-digit dialing plan will not impact on broadband users, but dial-up internet users will have to make sure that their computer is dialling out to a 10-digit number.