Qatar adding an extra digit to phone numbers

An eighth digit will be added to all mobile and landline numbers in Qatar on July 28, the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar) said yesterday.

The move, part of a recommendation by the National Numbering Committee (NCC) of ictQatar, will create an additional 36mn mobile and 9mn landline numbers, surpassing the highest demand forecast for the next 15-20 years, officials said.

“Population and business growth has had an enormous impact on the telecommunications service. Competition has driven growth in the demand for telephone numbers with many customers having more than one handset,” ictQatar’s Regulatory Authority executive director William Fagan said.

Qatar’s mobile penetration rates, “in excess of 150%”, are one of the highest in the world, Fagan said.

The change will happen automatically and seamlessly on July 28 at 00:00:01 (12.01am) for all customers, whether Qtel or Vodafone, with no interruption of service or effect on both networks.

NCC chairman and ictQatar chief technical manager Saleh al-Kuwari explained that for both fixed and mobile users, the first digit of the number will be repeated.

For instance, the numbers that begin with 3 will be 33. The affected numbers will be those starting with 3,4,5,6 and 7.

All emergency telephone numbers, including 999 (Police) and 112 (Emergency), numbers used for SMS (9xxxx), toll free (800-xxxx) and paging services, as well as short codes, will remain unchanged.

These begin with 1, 2, 8, and 9. “The numbers for the Ministry of Interior will also remain unchanged at seven digits,” al-Kuwari said.

For a period of three months after July 28, people who dial the current seven-digit numbers will receive an automated recorded message, asking them to dial again with the new eight-digit ones.

The country code will not be affected by the change. International callers will simply have to dial the first digit of the subscriber’s phone number twice after the “974” country code, officials said.

They said that ictQatar was working closely with Qatar’s telecommunications operators (Qtel and Vodafone) as well as the International Telecommunications Union and other international stakeholders to create awareness of the upcoming changes.

[Sidebar] 3mn mobile connections

Current approximate number of mobile connections in Qatar is 3mn

Qatar’s population is projected to double by 2015

Affected phone numbers start with 3,4,5,6 and 7

No change in the international code for Qatar (+974)

Emergency numbers will not be affected