The Romanian telephone numbering plan for mobile networks (numbers starting with 07) and new landline operators (numbers starting with 03) requires all subscriber numbers to be dialled in full. For landline numbers starting with 02, the dialling of the trunk digit and area code could be omitted in the past if the caller was in the same area code as the callee.
History
Landlines Prior to 1990, there was no direct international access. Numbers had 5 digits except for Bucharest, where numbers were 6 digits long. Area codes started with 9 and were 2 digits long for Bucharest (90-xxx-xxx) and 3 digits long (9pp-xx-xxx) for the rest of the country. The area surrounding Bucharest had area code 909 followed by a 5-digit number. Somewhere at the end of the 80s, some big cities' area codes were upgraded, including the last digit of the area code into the local number, thus making it 6 digits long. However, calling between non-local areas always required dialling the area code, even when the called party's code was the same as the caller's. For example, a number from Iași was 981-xx-xxx and became 98-1xx-xxx. A number from Suceava was 982-xx-xxx, and became 98-2xx-xxx. After Bucharest, Brașov was the next city to have 6-digit numbers. In many smaller towns or rural areas, calling implied using manual commutation circuits operated by humans. Short numbers for special services, like cab companies, were three digits long, starting with 0:
00 used for checking the phone line. 01, later 011 local exchange operator (free number) 02, later 021 telephone line service (possibly telephone service, if bought or rented from the telephone company) 023 elevators service (only in Bucharest) 03, later 031 telephone directory 05, later 051 informations 055 police (unknown implementation on 2-digit codes) 058 exact time (every 10 seconds) 059 weather forecast (recorded message) 06, later 061 ambulance (free number) 07, later 071 international calls via operator 08, later 081 fire brigade (free number) 09, later 091 domestic calls via operator (reverse charge or calls to manual commutation lines) After 1989, the then-monopolistic state-owned phone company started a process of upgrading its facilities. In 1992, it started increasing the size of a number to 7 digits in Bucharest and 6 digits in the rest of the country and by changing the prefixing scheme. The long distance code was changed from 9 to 0, the area code for Bucharest became 01, while to the rest of the country was temporarily given a 0 before the older area codes. For a short period, the surrounding of Bucharest (now Ilfov county) had the area code 0179, which has been eventually included into the Bucharest numbering plan as 01-79x-xxxx. The 02 code was used for calls to the Republic of Moldova. In 1993, the other counties were given new area codes (30 to 69). The previous area code system did not follow the country administrative regions. Outside county dialing required a national access code 0 (01-xxx-xxxx to Bucharest and 0pp-xxx-xxx for the rest of the country). In-county calling could be done without prefixes at all (xxx-xxxx to Bucharest and xxx-xxx for the rest of the country). Calling from outside meant +40-1-xxx-xxxx for Bucharest and +40-pp-xxx-xxx for the rest of the country. An international access code for calling abroad, 00, was adopted. County codes were selected on a geographical order, starting with northern Moldavia (Suceava County had 30), then going southwards to eastern Wallachia, than westwards to Banat, then northern Transylvania and it ends in the southern Transylvania, until the highest prefix, 69 (used for Sibiu County). The short numbers for special services started with 9 and were three digits long. Each town or county has its own special services, callable with the same number throughout the country.
Mobile numbers The first mobile company was Telemobil (an ancestor of Zapp) and it started its service in 1993 using the analogue NMT technology. The numbers for this network were using the prefix 018-5xx-xxx and 018-6xx-xxx. As 01 was the area code for Bucharest, the mobile numbers had to be dialed with the prefix included, even from Bucharest. Somewhere around 1998, Telemobil changed its technology to Low Emission Mobile System (LEMS) and operated under the brand name SunTel. The service has proven ineffective and has been changed to the current technology used under the name Zapp Mobile. Since SunTel, the prefix has been changed from 018 to 098 (now 0788). In 1996, the first GSM phone companies, Connex and Dialog, were allotted from the remaining prefixes, which were county-like, 2 digits, prefixes. In the beginning, Connex got the prefix 92 and Dialog got 94. Calling a Connex mobile from any phone in the country was 0-92-xxx-xxx. Afterwards, Connex also got 91 and 93 area codes, Dialog got 95 and 90, the newly founded Zapp Mobile got 98, and Cosmorom 96. Short numbers were now allowed in both the older form and in 4 digits long forms, both with a leading 9.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
