How to choose a Telephone Numbering Plan?

A phone numbering plan is a plan used to allot international telephone numbers between various lands and districts and between mobile phone networks. One can still find a distinction of international dialing codes and numbering plans. In areas like Australia or Canada there exists a closed numbering plan that involves special length area codes and local numbers.

An open numbering plan denotes that numbers and dialling codes can differ subject to the country and region they belong to. The open plan functions in lots of countries nowadays. All numbers defined by this plan are dialed variously. You should be aware which units are to be anyway dialed (these digits complete the subscriber’s number) and which can be omitted (dialing codes).
Still now the numbering plans as well as international dialling codes differ from place to place despite that the International Telecommunication Union or ITU makes frequent tries to arrange the system. E.g. double zero was meant to work as an international access code. Still the offer was not obligatory for the state members so only several of them agreed to the double zero code and the rest state members like the USA or Canada and the countries of the North American Numbering Plan remained aside. Mixed up? Try our brand reverse phone directory!

The international numbering plan helps arrange area codes that mean the code for one or a number of countries. In order to fix the codes for international calls there is the E.164 system. It states the general size of the complete number. Still in every area the telephone numbers are fixed variously by the country’s standards. So here are the types of regional country codes with:

- A fixed length, including e.g. one unit in Australia or 3 in USA.
- Non-defined calling code norms. So in regions like Austria the dialing code varies between two and five, on japanese isles – between 1 and five and in Peru the calling code includes from one to 2 units.

- Special rules offering that the subscriber’s number has the dialling code in its scheme, like in Spain or Norway. These are the specialties of the closed numbering plan. Sometimes interurban area dialling codes are used in the nations like Belgium, the Netherlands, South Africa or others. And generally for this purpose 0 is dialed.

The calling code generally serves to measure the price of the call. The price for calls on the territory of the country calling code usually turns lower than for the calls to the numbers with another area dialling code. The calls to the phone numbers of neighboring area dialling codes are also evaluated at lower price.

But it is generally the other way in States as there the prices for home calls are regulated by the state representatives so the rates frequently happen to be bigger than for inter-city calls.

As it happens that in States the interval between the callers of one vast location may be too big, the calls are charged depending on the interval though the area dialing code is similar.

The rate centers usually set rates for area sections counted in parts of around six, twelve or more miles. However, as the home calling services were just under no regulation everything became different.

Today it’s turning popular among the subscribers to take the so-called all-you-can-eat plan (an assigned price of nearly $30 monthly as actual for May 2008 letting connect with any place of States).

In a number of regions cell phone systems apply peculiar dialling codes. Also the codes are used for some exceptional rates, free, premium rates.

There also can be different special variants. E.g. in areas like Egypt dialing codes evaluate nothing as the prices remain the same for all the country and in Great Britain the area dialling code is divided into 2 parts each with its rate.