New phone numbers can be used from Thursday

By Rita Kyriakides

THIS WEEK the Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CyTA) is introducing eight-digit phone numbers in what it calls its new ‘National Numbering Plan’.

December 1 is the day CyTA officially switches to eight digits instead of the current six — with all calls within Cyprus charged at the same rate.

But starting this Thursday, November 1, existing and new numbers will operate in parallel for seven months, until June 1, 2002. From then, all calls to the old numbers will be forwarded to recorded announcements for a period of six months.

Area codes — 02, 05, 04 etc — will be replaced by two digits, which will be added to all phone numbers according to district. All numbers will start with the digit 2. Nicosia numbers, for example, will start with 22, and Limassol numbers will start with 25. All eight numbers will have to be dialled, wherever you are calling from.

Mobile phone number prefixes will also be changed from 09 to 99.

People calling from overseas will dial the international code +357 followed by the new eight-digit number.

CyTA says the National Numbering Plan is being implemented so the authority can prepare for competition when other service providers enter the market under European Union liberalisation rules.

For more information about the number changes, customers can call the toll- free help line on 0800 2001 or visit the CyTA website at <i> www.cyta.com.cy/tesa/</i>

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.