The Gibraltar

telephone numbering plan A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, re ...

is the system used for assigning

telephone number A telephone number is a sequence of digits assigned to a landline telephone subscriber station connected to a telephone line or to a wireless electronic telephony device, such as a radio telephone or a mobile telephone, or to other devices f ...

s in the British Overseas Territory of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

. It is regulated by the

Gibraltar Regulatory Authority The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority (GRA) was established by the Gibraltar Regulatory Act in October 2000. The GRA is the statutory body in Gibraltar responsible for regulating electronic communications. This includes telecommunications, radio com ...

(GRA), which holds responsibility for

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

s. The

country calling code Country calling codes or country dial-in codes are telephone number prefixes for reaching telephone subscribers in the networks of the member countries or regions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The codes are defined by the ...

to Gibraltar is +350, which was assigned to the territory by the

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

in the late 1960s. When calling abroad from Gibraltar, the

international call prefix An international call prefix, international dial-out code or international direct dial code (IDD code) is a trunk prefix that indicates an international phone call. In the dialling sequence, the prefix precedes the country calling code (and, fur ...

is 00.

History

Gibraltar's first

telephone exchange telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a telecommunications system used in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It interconnects telephone subscriber lines or virtual circuits of digital syste ...

was set up in 1886 as a private enterprise and then taken over by the

Government of Gibraltar His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar is the democratically elected government of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The head of state is King Charles III who is represented by the Governor. Elections in Gibraltar are held every fo ...

. In the 1970s there were three generations of automatic telephone exchange equipment in use with four and five-digit numbers, the latter prefixed with the digit '7'. The volume of calls grew and a System X digital exchange was installed and was taken over by a privatised telephone operator,

Gibtel Gibtelecom is the largest telecommunications provider in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Its headquarters is located on John Mackintosh Square. History The first telephones were introduced to Gibraltar in 1886 by a private company ...

, which also operate a

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...

network. Direct telephone connections between

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

were severed in 1969, when land communications between both territories were halted by the government of

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...

, as a result of the Spanish sovereignty claim, and were not restored until 1986. However, Gibraltar remained subject to restrictions after that date, which affected the expansion and modernisation of Gibraltar's telecommunications infrastructure. These included a refusal to recognise Gibraltar's International Direct Dialling (IDD) code (+350) which restricted the expansion of Gibraltar's

, and the prevention of roaming arrangements for Gibraltar

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...

s in Spain and vice versa. Following the signing of the Córdoba Accord between the Governments of Gibraltar, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and

in September 2006, these restrictions were removed with effect from 10 February 2007.

New numbering plan

Since 1 October 2008 telephone numbers for

landline A landline (land line, land-line, main line, home phone, fixed-line, and wireline) is a telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber telephone line for transmission, as distinguished from a mobile cellular network, which us ...

s and mobile phones in Gibraltar have been eight digits long. Prior to this date, landline numbers consisted of five digits starting with either ''4'', ''5'' or ''7'', while mobile phone numbers remained unchanged. Since this date all calls to existing Gibtelecom five-digit landline number have to be prefixed with ''200'', making the numbers eight digits long. Thus 52200 became 20052200 and when dialled from outside Gibraltar +350 20052200. CTS (Gibraltar) Limited, an alternative telecommunications provider began to offer a landline service prefixed with 216 and a mobile service with numbers prefixed by 606. This company ceased to operate in 2013. Since September 2015, U-mee, a provider of

fibre broadband Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber optic ...

services, has offered a fixed line telephone service called U-mee Talk, in which numbers will be prefixed with the digits 222. Since late 2017, Gibfibrespeed, a provider of

services, has offered a fixed line telephone service, in which numbers are prefixed with the digits 225, The GRA itself has announced regular updates to the numbering plan, and Gibfibrespeed as a fixed line operator is also licensed to provide carrier routing and transit services.

References

External links

Gibraltar Regulatory Authority

Gibtelecom
{{Telephone numbers in Europe Communications in Gibraltar

History of Gibraltar

History

New numbering plan

See also

References

External links