Telephone numbers in Germany
Encyclopedia
Country Code: +49
International Call Prefix: 00
Trunk Prefix
: 0
The German telephone numbering plan
is regulated by the German government's Federal Network Agency
(German: Bundesnetzagentur, BNetzA), which holds the responsibility for telecommunications and other infrastructure systems.
Phone numbers in Germany generally have a variable length: except for some non-geographic area codes, whose subscriber numbers use a fixed format, it is not possible to determine unambiguously the end of a phone number from a prefix or the digits already dialled. This unique feature also allows to extend the length of phone numbers without revoking or changing existing numbers.
There are 5200 geographical area codes, the length of which varies from two to five digits (not including the 0 trunk code), with five-digit area codes only being assigned in the New States (prefix 03). In general, geographic area codes start with digits (0)2 to (0)9, whereas other non-geographic “area codes” are assigned to (0)1 and network services to 11:
Geographic numbers are assigned to carriers in blocks, from which these carriers can make derivative assignments to subscribers.
Subscriber numbers do not start with 0 or 11 and can be called directly from landlines within the same geographic area code.
Originally, the first digits following the area code would indicate a smaller area within these area codes or the type of the subscriber line (analogue
or ISDN). However, this is no longer true as subscribers can keep their numbers when moving within an area code or when switching from analogue to ISDN. Further, new carriers assign numbers from different blocks.
This is the format used for the four largest geographic areas in Germany: Berlin (030), Hamburg (040), Frankfurt (069) and Munich (089).
Newly assigned numbers have a length of eight digits for the local subscriber number, yielding a total length of ten digits (not including the 0 trunk code). This is shorter than the maximum of eleven digits in other areas in order to avoid local numbers to be longer than eight digits.
Numbers assigned in the past, which are generally grandfathered, may be as short as five digits.
In area codes that use three digits, newly assigned numbers (for all locations from May 2010, some cities earlier: Cologne
already in February 2007) also have a length of eight digits, yielding a total length of eleven digits. Grandfathered numbers may be as short as four digits (seven total).
In area codes that use four digits, newly assigned numbers (for all locations from May 2010, some cities earlier: e,g, Heidelberg
already in May 2003) have a length of seven digits, also yielding a total length of eleven digits. Grandfathered numbers may be as short as three digits (seven total) in very rural areas.
Some smaller areas in the New States use five-digit area codes, all of which start with 3. Newly assigned numbers (for all locations from May 2010, some locations earlier) have a length of six digits, also yielding a total length of eleven digits.
These numbers can be dialled in front of the actual phone number in order to select a carrier (call-by-call).
Area codes starting with 011 overlap the prefix for network services. In general, these numbers cannot be dialled from abroad, with the exception being 0116xxx (or +49-116xxx) for harmonised services of social value.
The prefix 012 has been assigned as a testbed for innovative services such as VoIP or unified messaging, for which no other area codes were available. Allocations were only valid for a maximum of five years, after which new numbers would have to be assigned. Recent requests for registrations have been declined and referred to the premium-rate services under 0900. When the last remaining allocation expires in 2011, the prefix is planned to be returned to the reserved range.
The area code 0137 is assigned for services, which may result in a high number of connections in a fairly short period of time, e. g. votes or competitions initiated from TV or radio shows. The first digit indicates the rate for a call, the second digit indicates the maximum number of calls that can be handled per time period.
There are also sixteen grandfathered numbers in the range 0138-1, which have originally been allocated by Deutsche Bundespost
.
Mobile numbers are allocated area codes starting with 015, 016 and 017. The numbers have a total length of ten or eleven digits: Numbers starting with 017 or 016 are ten digits except 0176 and 01609 which are 11 digit like the numbers starting with 015. Since the advent of Mobile number portability, mobile phone number prefixes can no longer be relied on to determine the current operator of a particular mobile phone – only the original operator.
The prefix 018 is used for user groups. The length of the block number and the terminal number is flexible from two to seven digits. However, the sum is always nine digits, yielding a total length of eleven digits including the 18.
The area code 0180 is used for service-oriented services such as call centres, hotlines, etc. Prior to 2010-03-01, these numbers were known as shared cost services, a name that had been obsoleted by falling prices for national calls.
The area code 0181 is used for international virtual private networks (international user groups). The length of the IVPN block number is three or four digits; the terminal number may be up to seven digits.
Numbers from 0191 to 0194 are used for dial-up access to online services (e.g. to the Internet
).
Numbers starting with 0198 and 0199 are reserved for routing of service numbers and network-internal use.
The numbers 031-0 and 031-1 are test numbers that will reach a recorded announcement indicating the selected carrier for long-distance and local calls, respectively.
National subscriber numbers have been allocated the area code 032. They are similar to geographic numbers but not tied to a specific location, allowing for nomadic use. Unlike personal numbers, national subscriber numbers as assigned to carriers in blocks, from which these carriers can make derivative assignments to subscribers. The total length is eleven digits (not counting the 0).
The area code 0700 is used for personal numbering
. Unlike national subscriber numbers, the numbers are assigned individually, allowing for vanity numbers.
The area code 0800 is assigned to freephone numbers. The numbers are assigned individually, allowing for vanity numbers.
The area code 0900 is assigned to premium-rate services. The first digit following the area code indicates the service type:
The numbers are assigned individually, allowing for vanity numbers.
So-called „dialers“, that is programmes that call a premium-rate service or modify a computer's configuration to call such a service must use numbers using the area code 09009. These programmes must also be registered with the Federal Network Agency.
Police emergencies.
All emergencies (Europe-wide). Originally fire emergencies only.
This number allows uniform access to civil services. Requests are either answered directly or forwarded to the competent authority.
These numbers are reserved for harmonised services of social value. The purpose of these numbers, i.e. the type of service, is defined for all EU Member States by the European Commission.
Directory services.
Medical emergencies. This number is being phased out as an emergency number in favour of the Europe-wide 112, with 19222 being retained for non-emergency medical transports. Conceptually, this number is not an emergency number but a local number assigned uniformly in all geographic area codes. This requires dialling the area code from mobile phones or other non-geographic lines.
(Originally, the block 19xxx was used for local numbers assigned uniformly in all or several geographic area codes. All other allocations have already been converted to ordinary geographic numbers.)
, the phone networks were merged. Geographic numbers in the New States were assigned the area code starting with 03, the area code 030, formerly used by West Berlin
, was assigned to re-unified Berlin.
The German phone network became fully digitised in 1997, allowing more flexible use of the numbering space.
On 1 January 1998, the Federal Network Agency (named the Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Postal Services at the time) became the numbering authority for phone numbers in Germany.
International Call Prefix: 00
Trunk Prefix
Trunk prefix
A trunk prefix is the number to be dialed in a domestic telephone call, preceding any necessary area codes and subscriber numbers. When the number is called from overseas, the trunk prefix is omitted by the caller. In most countries, such as Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom, the trunk...
: 0
The German telephone numbering plan
Telephone numbering plan
A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunications to allocate telephone numbers to subscribers and to route telephone calls in a telephone network. A closed numbering plan, such as found in North America, imposes a fixed total length to numbers...
is regulated by the German government's Federal Network Agency
Federal Network Agency
The Federal Network Agency is the German regulatory office for electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway markets. It is a federal government agency of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and headquartered in Bonn....
(German: Bundesnetzagentur, BNetzA), which holds the responsibility for telecommunications and other infrastructure systems.
Overview
There are no standard lengths for either area codes or subscribers' numbers in Germany, meaning that some subscribers' numbers may be as short as two digits.Phone numbers in Germany generally have a variable length: except for some non-geographic area codes, whose subscriber numbers use a fixed format, it is not possible to determine unambiguously the end of a phone number from a prefix or the digits already dialled. This unique feature also allows to extend the length of phone numbers without revoking or changing existing numbers.
There are 5200 geographical area codes, the length of which varies from two to five digits (not including the 0 trunk code), with five-digit area codes only being assigned in the New States (prefix 03). In general, geographic area codes start with digits (0)2 to (0)9, whereas other non-geographic “area codes” are assigned to (0)1 and network services to 11:
Geographic numbering
Geographic area codes have a length of two to five digits (not including the 0 trunk code). The maximum total length is eleven digits (not including the 0 trunk code).Geographic numbers are assigned to carriers in blocks, from which these carriers can make derivative assignments to subscribers.
Subscriber numbers do not start with 0 or 11 and can be called directly from landlines within the same geographic area code.
Originally, the first digits following the area code would indicate a smaller area within these area codes or the type of the subscriber line (analogue
Plain old telephone service
Plain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world....
or ISDN). However, this is no longer true as subscribers can keep their numbers when moving within an area code or when switching from analogue to ISDN. Further, new carriers assign numbers from different blocks.
- (0xx) xxxxxxxx
This is the format used for the four largest geographic areas in Germany: Berlin (030), Hamburg (040), Frankfurt (069) and Munich (089).
Newly assigned numbers have a length of eight digits for the local subscriber number, yielding a total length of ten digits (not including the 0 trunk code). This is shorter than the maximum of eleven digits in other areas in order to avoid local numbers to be longer than eight digits.
Numbers assigned in the past, which are generally grandfathered, may be as short as five digits.
- (0xxx) xxxxxxxx
In area codes that use three digits, newly assigned numbers (for all locations from May 2010, some cities earlier: Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
already in February 2007) also have a length of eight digits, yielding a total length of eleven digits. Grandfathered numbers may be as short as four digits (seven total).
- (0xxxx) xxxxxxx
In area codes that use four digits, newly assigned numbers (for all locations from May 2010, some cities earlier: e,g, Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
already in May 2003) have a length of seven digits, also yielding a total length of eleven digits. Grandfathered numbers may be as short as three digits (seven total) in very rural areas.
- (03xxxx) xxxxxx
Some smaller areas in the New States use five-digit area codes, all of which start with 3. Newly assigned numbers (for all locations from May 2010, some locations earlier) have a length of six digits, also yielding a total length of eleven digits.
Non-geographic numbering
Non-geographic numbers were originally assigned the prefix 01. However, some of these services have been moved to other area codes.- 010xy, 0100yy
These numbers can be dialled in front of the actual phone number in order to select a carrier (call-by-call).
- 011…
Area codes starting with 011 overlap the prefix for network services. In general, these numbers cannot be dialled from abroad, with the exception being 0116xxx (or +49-116xxx) for harmonised services of social value.
- 012xx-xxxxxxx…
The prefix 012 has been assigned as a testbed for innovative services such as VoIP or unified messaging, for which no other area codes were available. Allocations were only valid for a maximum of five years, after which new numbers would have to be assigned. Recent requests for registrations have been declined and referred to the premium-rate services under 0900. When the last remaining allocation expires in 2011, the prefix is planned to be returned to the reserved range.
- 0137-xxx xxxxxxx, (0138-1xxx…)
The area code 0137 is assigned for services, which may result in a high number of connections in a fairly short period of time, e. g. votes or competitions initiated from TV or radio shows. The first digit indicates the rate for a call, the second digit indicates the maximum number of calls that can be handled per time period.
There are also sixteen grandfathered numbers in the range 0138-1, which have originally been allocated by Deutsche Bundespost
Deutsche Bundespost
The Deutsche Bundespost was created in 1947 as a successor to the Reichspost . Between 1947 and 1950 the enterprise was called Deutsche Post...
.
- 015xx-xxxxxxx, 016x-xxxxxxx, 017x-xxxxxxx
Mobile numbers are allocated area codes starting with 015, 016 and 017. The numbers have a total length of ten or eleven digits: Numbers starting with 017 or 016 are ten digits except 0176 and 01609 which are 11 digit like the numbers starting with 015. Since the advent of Mobile number portability, mobile phone number prefixes can no longer be relied on to determine the current operator of a particular mobile phone – only the original operator.
| Prefix(ex) | Assigned to | MNP Mobile number portability Mobile number portability enables mobile telephone users to retain their mobile telephone numbers when changing from one mobile network operator to another.- General overview :MNP is implemented in different ways across the globe... |
|---|---|---|
| 0150 | Group3G (Quam) (GSM/UMTS), defunct | no |
| 0151, 0160, 0170, 0171, 0175 | T-Mobile T-Mobile T-Mobile International AG is a German-based holding company for Deutsche Telekom AG's various mobile communications subsidiaries outside Germany. Based in Bonn, Germany, its subsidiaries operate GSM and UMTS-based cellular networks in Europe, the United States, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands... (GSM/UMTS) |
yes |
| 0152, 0162, 0172, 0173, 0174 | Vodafone D2 (GSM/UMTS) | yes |
| 0155, 0157, 0163, 0177, 0178 | E-Plus E-Plus E-Plus is a mobile telecommunications operator in Germany. With 19.0 million subscribers, E-Plus is the third largest mobile operator in Germany, after T-Mobile and Vodafone .... (GSM/UMTS, 0157-0 used for MVNO ViStream, 0157-5 for Ring Mobilfunk) |
yes |
| 0159, 0176, 0179 | o2 Germany (GSM/UMTS) | yes |
| 0161 | reserved, originally 1G cell phones (C-Netz) C-Netz The Radio Telephone Network C , was a first generation analog cellular phone system deployed and operated in Germany by DeTeMobil... |
no |
| 0164, 0168, 0169 | e*message (pagers) | no |
| 0167 | trunked radio system Trunked radio system A trunked radio system is a complex type of computer-controlled radio system. Trunked systems use a few channels , and can have virtually unlimited talkgroups. The control channel computer sends packets of data to enable one talkgroup to talk together, regardless of frequency... s, currently no assignments |
no |
- 018xx-xxxxxxx…018xxxxxxx-xx
The prefix 018 is used for user groups. The length of the block number and the terminal number is flexible from two to seven digits. However, the sum is always nine digits, yielding a total length of eleven digits including the 18.
- 0180-xxxxxxx
The area code 0180 is used for service-oriented services such as call centres, hotlines, etc. Prior to 2010-03-01, these numbers were known as shared cost services, a name that had been obsoleted by falling prices for national calls.
| Prefix | Rate | rate from landlines | rate from mobile phones |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0180-1 | time-based rate 1 | 0,039 €/min. | max. 0,42 €/min. |
| 0180-2 | per-call rate 1 | 0,06 €/call | max. 0,42 €/min. |
| 0180-3 | time-based rate 2 | 0,09 €/min. | max. 0,42 €/min. |
| 0180-4 | per-call rate 2 | 0,20 €/call | max. 0,42 €/min. |
| 0180-5 | time-based rate 3 | 0,14 €/min. | max. 0,42 €/min. |
- 0181-xxx-x…, 0181-xxxx-x…
The area code 0181 is used for international virtual private networks (international user groups). The length of the IVPN block number is three or four digits; the terminal number may be up to seven digits.
- 019xxx
Numbers from 0191 to 0194 are used for dial-up access to online services (e.g. to the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
).
- 0198…, 0199…
Numbers starting with 0198 and 0199 are reserved for routing of service numbers and network-internal use.
- 031-x
The numbers 031-0 and 031-1 are test numbers that will reach a recorded announcement indicating the selected carrier for long-distance and local calls, respectively.
- 032-xxxxxxxxx
National subscriber numbers have been allocated the area code 032. They are similar to geographic numbers but not tied to a specific location, allowing for nomadic use. Unlike personal numbers, national subscriber numbers as assigned to carriers in blocks, from which these carriers can make derivative assignments to subscribers. The total length is eleven digits (not counting the 0).
- 0700-xxxxxxxx
The area code 0700 is used for personal numbering
Personal Numbering
Personal numbering is the name for virtual telephone number services in a number of countries including the UK and Spain. Typically the national destination code used for this service is 70 service. This service has historically been poorly defined by Oftel and also Ofcom...
. Unlike national subscriber numbers, the numbers are assigned individually, allowing for vanity numbers.
- 0800-xxxxxxx
The area code 0800 is assigned to freephone numbers. The numbers are assigned individually, allowing for vanity numbers.
- 0900-x-xxxxxx
The area code 0900 is assigned to premium-rate services. The first digit following the area code indicates the service type:
| Prefix | Service Type |
|---|---|
| 0900-1 | Information services (no adult content) |
| 0900-3 | Entertainment services (no adult content) |
| 0900-5 | Other services (including those offering adult content) |
The numbers are assigned individually, allowing for vanity numbers.
- 09009-xxxxxxx
So-called „dialers“, that is programmes that call a premium-rate service or modify a computer's configuration to call such a service must use numbers using the area code 09009. These programmes must also be registered with the Federal Network Agency.
Emergency and Network Services
Network services are not dialed with the trunk prefix 0. They resemble local numbers that start with 11 but usually cannot be dialed after an area code.- 110
Police emergencies.
- 112
All emergencies (Europe-wide). Originally fire emergencies only.
- 115
This number allows uniform access to civil services. Requests are either answered directly or forwarded to the competent authority.
- 116xxx
These numbers are reserved for harmonised services of social value. The purpose of these numbers, i.e. the type of service, is defined for all EU Member States by the European Commission.
- 118xx
Directory services.
- 19222
Medical emergencies. This number is being phased out as an emergency number in favour of the Europe-wide 112, with 19222 being retained for non-emergency medical transports. Conceptually, this number is not an emergency number but a local number assigned uniformly in all geographic area codes. This requires dialling the area code from mobile phones or other non-geographic lines.
(Originally, the block 19xxx was used for local numbers assigned uniformly in all or several geographic area codes. All other allocations have already been converted to ordinary geographic numbers.)
History
In 1992, two years after the German reunificationGerman reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
, the phone networks were merged. Geographic numbers in the New States were assigned the area code starting with 03, the area code 030, formerly used by West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, was assigned to re-unified Berlin.
The German phone network became fully digitised in 1997, allowing more flexible use of the numbering space.
On 1 January 1998, the Federal Network Agency (named the Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Postal Services at the time) became the numbering authority for phone numbers in Germany.