Tuesday, March 4

Phone numbers are changing for ALL of CR

DO YOU KNOW THIS? -
"Thursday, March 20, 2008, the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) will put into effect the new telephone numeration that will consist of 8 digits for residential and commercial telephones in addition to cellular telephony.

As of that date, telephone clients must dial the digit “2” before the already known number for fixed telephone lines and the digit “8” for cellular phone numbers.

The new national numeration contemplates the National Telecommunications System’s (SNT) current and future needs and considers the growth and distribution of the clients in addition to the capacity to satisfy new facilities and services demanded by technological innovation."


I don't know how we are to fill out standard forms that require a seven digit number.
Has any country every done something like this?
I must be missing something. How can adding a 2 in front of the current phone numbers generate more numbers for their use?
Why don't they just use area codes for Costa Rica instead of the one "506"?
Why am I asking "Why"? I've lived here long enough to know, don't ask why, just go with it and be happy to be here. Pura Vida

3 comments:

wolfie_cr said...

well to add area codes is probably too much for now, that would be adding 3 numbers and apparently adding just one will do for the next 20 years

In Gibraltar (5 years ago) they only had 5 digits, I was there again last year and now they use 6

In Hong Kong and Panama they use 8 same as here

So its not unheard of, we will simply deal with a bunch of 'are you sure that is the right number'

wolfie_cr said...

oh and btw , adding an extra digit to the phones opens up all the 3xxx-xxxx , then 4-xxx-xxxx etc so we have 9 million numbers more than before (in absolute terms, not all those combinations will be used)

Tica Macha said...

I sure hope they never have to use ALL those numbers. It's getting pretty crowded around here as it is. An INTERNET, is slow as molasses. Poor little Costa Rica. I wish it was still a secret little paradise.