How Telephone Country

Codes Work


BY DAVE ROOS
The Numbering Plan E.164
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International telephone numbers include a specific number that identifies the country, region
and specific users so callers can dial directly home.
© OMAR TORRES/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
 The E.164 recommendation, also called the "international public
telecommunications numbering plan," was first approved and published by the
ITU-T in May 1997. The E.164 recommendation establishes a standard framework
for every country to create its own international phone numbers.

An international E.164 number is designed to include all of the necessary

information to successfully route a call to an individual subscriber on a nation's
public telephone network. Here's how the E.164 numbering plan works:

 A telephone number can have a maximum of 15 digits

 The first part of the telephone number is the country code (one to three digits)
 The second part is the national destination code (NDC)
 The last part is the subscriber number (SN)
 The NDC and SN together are collectively called the national (significant)
number
The combined length of the national (significant) number can't exceed (15-n),
where n is the amount of digits in the country code. This allows each country to
decide how many digits should be in the national destination code and the
subscriber number. A country with a relatively small population and few major
cities, for example, might choose to have fewer digits in their phone numbers.
And for larger countries, the possibilities are nearly endless. A 15-digit number
allows for 100 trillion different permutations, enough for each person on earth to
have 10,000 phone numbers [source: SearchNetworking].

The United States subscribes to a system called the North American Numbering
Plan. The North American Numbering Plan was actually created by AT&T in 1947,
but it conforms with the framework recommended by the E.164 [source: North
American Numbering Plan]. The North American Numbering Plan has a one-digit
country code, a three-digit national destination code (called a Numbering Plan
Area code, or just area code) followed by a seven-digit subscriber number.

Not all nations have a standard amount of digits for every location in the country.
In Mexico, for example, the three largest cities -- Mexico City, Guadalajara and
Monterrey -- have eight-digit subscriber numbers while all other locations have
seven-digit numbers. The important thing is that all Mexican phone numbers
adhere to the standards set forth by the E.164 recommendation.

The E.164 recommendation is currently being expanded into a much broader

protocol called ENUM, short for TElephone NUmber Mapping. Using the
international E.164 number as a model, ENUM will assign a specific Uniform
Resource Identifier (URI) to each and every networked device, including analog
telephones and fax machines, mobile phones, computers and PDAs. With this
new URI, all these devices will be able to contact each other directly using a
single network address/phone number. As of this writing, a final ENUM
recommendation hasn't been published.

For lots more information about telephone country codes and related topics,
check out the links below.

E.164
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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E.164

Status In force

Latest version November 2016

Organization ITU-T
 Committee Study Group 2

Related standards E.123, E.163

Domain telephony

License Freely available

Website https://www.itu.int/rec/T-REC-E.164/

E.164 is an international standard (ITU-T Recommendation), titled The international public

telecommunication numbering plan, that defines a numbering plan for the worldwide public switched
telephone network (PSTN) and some other data networks.
E.164 defines a general format for international telephone numbers. Plan-conforming numbers are
limited to a maximum of 15 digits, excluding the international call prefix.[1] The presentation of a
number at the B-party device is usually prefixed with the plus sign (+), indicating that the number
includes the country calling code. This is done by the B-party subscribers network by usually looking
at the NOA (Nature Of Address) field of the signaling messages. When dialing, the number must
typically be prefixed with the appropriate international call prefix (in place of the plus sign), which is
a trunk code to reach an international circuit from within the country of call origination.[2]
As described in by the ITU, the E.164 general format must contain only digits split as follows :

 Country code (max 3 digits)

 Subscriber number (max 12 digits)
Alternative formats (with area codes and country specific numbers) are available.
The title of the original version and first revision of the E.164 standard was Numbering Plan for the
ISDN Era.+212606555762

Contents

 1Numbering formats
o 1.1Geographic areas
o 1.2Global services
o 1.3Networks
o 1.4Groups of countries
 2Recommendations
o 2.1E.163
o 2.2E.164.1
o 2.3E.164.2
o 2.4E.164.3
 3DNS mapping of E.164 numbers
 4See also
 5References
 6External links

Numbering formats[edit]
The E.164 recommendation provides the telephone number structure and functionality for three
categories of telephone numbers used in international public telecommunication:
For each of the categories, it details the components of the numbering structure and the digit
analysis required for successful routing of calls. Annex A provides additional information on the
structure and function of E.164 numbers. Annex B provides information on network identification,
service parameters, calling/connected line identity, dialing procedures, and addressing for
Geographic-based ISDN calls. Specific E.164-based applications which differ in usage are defined in
separate recommendations.
The number categories are all based on a fifteen-digit numbering space. Before 1997, only twelve
digits were allowed. The definition does not include any international call prefixes, necessary for a
call to reach international circuits from inside the country of call origination.
Geographic areas[edit]

Country Code National Destination Code (optional) Subscriber Number

National (significant)

cc = 1 to 3 digits maximum = 15 − cc = 12 to 14 digits

International public telecommunication number for geographic areas (maximum 15 digits)

Global services[edit]

Country Code Global Subscriber Number

cc = 3 digits maximum 12 digits

International public telecommunication number for global services (maximum 15 digits)

[1]
Figure 2
Networks[edit]

Country Code Identification Code Subscriber Number

 cc = 1 to 3 digits x = 1 to 4 digits maximum = 15 − (cc + x) = 8 to 13 digits

International public telecommunication number for networks (maximum 15 digits)

Groups of countries[edit]
+251

Group Identification Code

+251911451292

cc = 1 to 3 digits gic = 1 digit maximum = 15 − (cc + gic) = 11 digits

International public telecommunication number for groups of countries (maximum 15 digits)

Recommendations[edit]
E.163[edit]
E.163 was the former ITU-T recommendation for describing telephone numbers for the public
switched telephone network (PSTN). In the United States, this was formerly referred to as a directory
number. E.163 was withdrawn, and some recommendations were incorporated into revision 1 of
E.164 in 1997.[3]
E.164.1[edit]
This recommendation describes the procedures and criteria for the reservation, assignment, and
reclamation of E.164 country codes and associated identification code (IC) assignments.[4] The
criteria and procedures are provided as a basis for the effective and efficient utilization of the
available E.164 numbering resources.
E.164.2[edit]
This recommendation contains the criteria and procedures for an applicant to be temporarily
assigned a three-digit identification code within the shared E.164 country code +88 for the purpose
of conducting an international non-commercial trial.[5]
E.164.3[edit]
This recommendation describes the principles, criteria, and procedures for the assignment and
reclamation of resources within a shared E.164 country code for groups of countries.[6] These shared
country codes will coexist with all other E.164-based country codes assigned by the ITU. The
resource of the shared country code consists of a country code and a group identification code (CC
+ GIC) and provides the capability for a group of countries to provide telecommunication services
within the group. The Secretariat of the ITU Standardization Sector (ITU-T), the Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau (TSB) is responsible for the assignment of the CC + GIC.

DNS mapping of E.164 numbers[edit]

Main article: Telephone number mapping
Some national telephone administrations and telephone companies have implemented an Internet-
based database for their numbering spaces. E.164 numbers may be used in the Domain Name
System (DNS) of the Internet in which the second-level domain e164.arpa has been reserved
for telephone number mapping (ENUM). In the system, any phone number may be mapped into
a domain name using a reverse sequence of subdomains for each digit. For example, the telephone
number +19995550123 translates to the domain name 3.2.1.0.5.5.5.9.9.9.1.e164.arpa.
When a number is mapped, a DNS query may be used to locate the service facilities on the Internet
that accept and process telephone calls to the owner of record of the number, using, for example,
the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), a call-signaling VoIP protocol whose SIP addresses are similar
in format (user@domain...) to e-mail addresses.
This allows a direct, end-to-end Internet connection without passing to the public switched telephone
network (and back) and without incurring PSTN tolls.
As this is effectively a free call, there is little incentive for carriers to promote e164 DNS service. The
e164.arpa domain is in production status as of 2013 only in a few European nations (Austria, Czech
Republic, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Netherlands, United
Kingdom).[7] Australia conducted a trial in 2007, but then abandoned further support
of .1.6.e164.arpa. Many nations have no .e164.arpa implementation active.[8]