Fixed-line telephone operator Telkom has introduced a second area code for Johannesburg, which will operate alongside the existing 011 code.
“Following an announcement of a move to the mandatory 10-digit dialling, Telkom has recently been allocated, by Icasa [Independent Communications Authority of South Africa], the first batch of numbers in the 010 area code for use within the same geographic boundary as the existing 011 code,” Telkom said in a statement on Tuesday.
It added that the move to 10-digit dialling in October 2006 had made it possible to seamlessly introduce a second area code in the greater Johannesburg area without any inconvenience to existing customers.
Sensitising the public to the changes, Marius Mostert, Telkom’s group executive for network infrastructure provisioning, said: “The introduction of the 010 area code has been fuelled by the diminishing capacity of numbers within the 011 area code. We are therefore currently implementing the new code.”
He said that the introduction of the 010 code effectively doubles the amount of numbers available in the greater Johannesburg geographic area, making it possible for Telkom to continue providing new services without affecting existing customers.
“It is important to note that there are sufficient numbers available in other parts of the country and, therefore, there should be no introduction of other second area codes in the foreseeable future,” he pointed out. — I-Net Bridge