Illustrative image (Source: VNA) According tothe Ministry of Information and Communication, most of the digital repositoryis used for fixed-line phones, and only a few for mobile phones – whosesubscribers account for 95 percent of total telephone subscribers in Vietnam.
Theseparation and merging of cities and provinces made fixed-line area codesinconsistently long.
The ministryhas promulgated Circular No.22, which took effect from March 1, 2015, ondigital repository planning, including the change of landline phone area codesin 59 out of 63 localities across the country.
The plan isdivided into three phases, with the first phase starting from February 11,2017, for 13 cities and provinces, namely Son La, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Dien Bien,Yen Bai, Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien – Hue, Quang Nam, Da Nang, ThanhHoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh.
The secondphase will start from April 15 this year for 23 cities and provinces, and thelast one will start from June 17 for the remaining, including Hanoi and Ho ChiMinh City.
The area codesfor northern Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Hoa Binh and Ha Giang provinces will not bechanged.
The MoIC said its aim is to make all area codes uniformly three digits;currently there are one-, two- and three-digit codes. With the new codes, allphones numbers will have 11 numbers; they range from 10 to 11 now.
The ministry will use the opportunity to renumber phone codes based ongeographical location.
Provinces in the north-western region, for example, will have their codes beginwith 21.
The north-eastern region above Hanoi will have the new code of 20x, while thesub-Hanoi region’s will be 22x.
The diallingcodes of the upper half of the central region will begin with 23, while it willbe 25 for the lower half.
The new code for provinces in the central highlands will be 26x, in thesouth-eastern region it will be 27x, while in the south-western region it willbe 29x.
Hanoi and HCM City will be the only two cities to have two-digit codes of 24and 28, respectively.
The codes of the three central cities of Can Tho, Da Nang and Hai Phong will be292, 236 and 225, respectively.
The changeswill be completed on August 31, 2017.-VNA
