Telkom is to introduce a 10-digit national dialling procedure tomorrow (November 6) in anticipation of the forthcoming new national numbering plan to be prescribed by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).
All telecommunication companies, including the future Second National Operator (SNO), will be obliged to comply with the new national numbering plan.
This means that all calls made within the Republic of South Africa, with the exception of international dialling codes and special service short codes (e.g. police emergency number 10111, Telkom service activation 10219, Telkom directory enquiries 1023, etc.), will require the full 10-digit number to be dialled.
For example, in the past, if you were in Pretoria and made a call to someone else in the Pretoria area, you would only dial the seven-digit number 345 6789 to reach the called party.
In future, customers will be required to dial the full 10-digit number inclusive of the area dialling code; thus, instead of dialling 345 6789 you will now have to dial 012 345 6789. The 10-digit format will appear in all telephone directories published as from January 2002 onwards.
To ensure a smooth transition to the new 10-digit national dialling procedure, there will be a period of parallel running when calls dialled using seven digits will still be connected.
The advantages of the new national numbering plan are:
*.Uniform national dialling procedure for all calls within South Africa, with the exception of international calls and special service calls;
* Increased national numbering capacity.
The move to a uniform national dialling procedure is in line with international trends.
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