Telephone numbers in Pakistan explained

Country:Pakistan
Country Link:Pakistan
Continent:Asia
Map Size:220px
Plan Type:Closed
Plan Date:23 July 2010
Country Calling Code:+92
International Prefix:00
Trunk Prefix:0

Telephone numbers in Pakistan are ten digits long. Landline numbers and mobile numbers have different structures. Geographically fixed landline are prefixed by an area code which varies in length depending on the significance of the place. Mobile numbers are prefixed (03) followed by a two-digit code indicating the telephone operator. The international country code for Pakistan is '+92'.

Fixed (landline) numbers

See main article: List of dialling codes in Pakistan. Area codes in Pakistan are from two to five digits long; the smaller the city, the longer the prefix. All the large cities have two-digit codes.

Smaller towns have a six digit number. Azad Jammu and Kashmir has six digit numbers as well. Large cities have seven digit numbers. On 1 July 2009, telephone numbers in Karachi and Lahore were changed from seven digits to eight digits. This was accomplished by adding the digit 9 to the beginning of any phone number that started with a 9 (government and semi-government connexions), and adding the digit 3 to any phone numbers that did not start with the number 9.[1]

It is common to write phone numbers as (0xx) yyyyyyy, where xx is the area code. The 0 prefix is for trunk (long-distance) dialling from within the country. International callers should dial +92xxyyyyyyy

All mobile phone codes are four digits long and start with 03. All mobile numbers are seven digits long, and denote the mobile provider on a nationwide basis and not geographic location. Thus all Telenor numbers (for example) nationwide carry mobile code 0345 etc.

NWD (area) codes for common cities are:Premium Rate services:
*0900 xxxxx

Toll free numbers (for landline callers within Pakistan):
*0800 xxxxx

Mobile telephone numbers

Mobile telephone numbers in Pakistan are of the following format: 03XZ-YYYYYYY where X is the single letter code assigned to a specific mobile telephone operator and Z-YYYYYYY is the local telephone number from any mobile phone or landline.

Existing Codes

International callers must dial +92-3XZ-YYYYYYY to reach a mobile number in Pakistan from outside Pakistan, where '+92' is the Country Code, '3XZ' is Mobile Access Code as per the above list and 'YYYYYYY' is personal number.

Within Pakistan the same number can be reached by dialing either 03XZ-YYYYYYY or '0092-3XZ-YYYYYYY' or '+92-3XZ-YYYYYYY' from any mobile device or landline.

In order to dial a landline number from a mobile phone in Pakistan, city code is required in all cases. However, city code is not required between landline calls within the same city. For instance, to call a landline number 'YYYYYYY' from another landline in the same city, dial only 'YYYYYYY'. However, to call this number from another landline in another city or from a mobile phone anywhere (same city or another city), dial '(0XX)-YYYYYYY'.

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2009-07-08 . Karachi and Lahore now have eight digit phone numbers. In the near future this will be extended to other metros, and new connections in Rawalpindi/Islamabad are eight digits. . Daily Times (Pakistan) . 2009-10-01 .