Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!ames!attctc!vector!telecom-gateway From: af@sei.ucl.ac.be (Alain FONTAINE (Postmaster - NAD)) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Telecommunications in Belgium - Part 2 - Numbering and dialing Message-ID: Date: 6 Oct 89 14:54:26 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 40 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 435, message 1 of 7 Belgium is a small but heavily populated country : about 10e7 inhabitants for about 30000 square kilometers. The country is divided in 40 zones only. Each zone number starts with a zero, which may be considered as an access code (international is double zero). Zone numbers include either two or three digits, including the leading zero. The following numbers are currently in use : 010->016, 019, 02, 03, 041, 050->059, 060->069, 071, 080->087, 091. The two zones with two digits are big zones, and numbers inside them have seven digits (spelled xxx.xx.xx) ; the other zones are smaller, and numbers there only have 6 digits (spelled xx.xx.xx). There is thus room for n * 10e8 different numbers (where n is < 1, maybe in the 0.7->0.9 range). Zones 041, 071 and 091 are centered on big towns, and could potentially become big ones some day. I suppose this is the reason why the other numbers starting with 04, 07 and 09 have not been used. A pseudo-zone, 017, is used to access the cellular phone system, which by the way is unified between Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. Special services, including various specialized operators, DA, etc have numbers starting with a '1', and are always dialed locally. There are the '100' and '101' national emergency numbers (resp. fire/ambulance and police). All others have 4 digits. For most services, the second digit is '2' or '3', depending on the language you wish to use (French or Dutch). 'Green numbers' (aka 800 for you North Americans) start with either 11, 15 or 17, and have six digits. They are always dialed locally, and are valid all over the country. Those starting with '11' are completely free for the caller, while for the others a single unit is counted for each call. Those number may give access to a foreign subscriber (for example 11.00.10 is ATT in the US - no other US carrier on the list). Rotary dials are standard 1 to 0. If letters have been used, that's very long ago : the telephone that used to sit in my parent's house, installed in the early 50's, did not have letters... DTMF is now commonplace, and is (of course) free. In some regions, the RTT did even replace all instruments when a new DTMF CO was installed. This did not happen everywhere, however. Customers who wanted a DTMF telephone could still ask for the replacement and pay a flat fee (this was before one could *buy* and install).