Telephone numbers in Romania
Encyclopedia
As of 2002 the area codes are county codes. They are formed by 1 for Bucharest
and Ilfov County
, and two digits (30-69) for the rest of the country (one area code per county
). Depending on the company that operates the ground line, before the county code another digit is used (2 for Romtelecom
, 3 for most of the other landline telephony providers: Astral Telecom
, RCS&RDS
, etc).
Mobile phone numbers have a two digit code, regardless of the geographical area in which the user resides. The first digit of the code is a seven, and the second one gives the network:72 and 73 for Vodafone
; 74 and 75 for Orange
; 76 for Cosmote
; 77 for RDS DIGI.mobil;78 for Zapp Mobile
.
The dialling plan for mobile networks (numbers starting with 07) and new landline operators (numbers starting with 03) is closed; all subscriber numbers must be dialled in full. For landline numbers starting with 02, the dialling plan used to be open; the trunk code and area code could be omitted if the caller was in the same area code as the callee. However, starting 3 May 2008, all landline numbers must be dialled in full.
Somewhere in the end of the 80s, some big cities' area codes were upgraded, including the last digit of the area code into the local number, thus making it 6-digits long. However, dialing outside the city implied using the area code, even when the caller and the callee had the same area code. For example, a number from Iaşi
was 981-xx-xxx, then it became 98-1xx-xxx. A number from Suceava
was 982-xx-xxx, but then it became 98-2xx-xxx. Apart from Bucharest, Braşov
was the first city to have 6-digit numbers.
Many smaller town or rural area calling implied using manual commutation circuits operated by humans.
Short numbers for special services, like cab companies, were three digits long, starting with 0:
After 1989, the then-monopolistic state-owned phone company started a process of upgrading its facilities. In 1992, it started increasing the size of a number to 7 digits in Bucharest and 6 digits in the rest of the country and by changing the prefixing scheme. The long distance code was changed from 9 to 0, the area code for Bucharest became 01, while to the rest of the country was temporarily given a 0 before the older area codes. For a short period, the surrounding of Bucharest (now Ilfov county) had the area code 0179, which has been eventually included into the Bucharest numbering plan as 01-79x-xxxx. The 02 code was used for calls to the Republic of Moldova
.
In 1993, the other counties were given new area codes (30 to 69). The previous area code system did not follow the country administrative regions. Outside county dialing required a national access code 0 (01-xxx-xxxx to Bucharest and 0pp-xxx-xxx for the rest of the country). In-county calling could be done without prefixes at all (xxx-xxxx to Bucharest and xxx-xxx for the rest of the country). Calling from outside meant +40-1-xxx-xxxx for Bucharest and +40-pp-xxx-xxx for the rest of the country. An international access code for Romanians calling abroad, 00, was adopted. County codes were selected on a geographical order, starting with northern Moldavia
(Suceava County
had 30), then going southwards to eastern Wallachia
, than westwards to Banat
, than northern Transylvania
and it ends in the southern Transylvania
, until the biggest prefix , 69 (used for Sibiu County
). The short numbers for special services started with 9 and were three digits long. Each town or county has it own special services, callable with the same number throughout the country.
technology. The numbers for this network were using the area code 018-5xx-xxx and 018-6xx-xxx. As 01 was the area code for Bucharest, the mobile numbers had to be dialed with the area code included, even from Bucharest. However, dialing codes like 8888 from Bucharest would result in strange noises on the phone, or at best, the busy tone.
Somewhere around 1998, Telemobil changed its technology to Low Emission Mobile System (LEMS) and operated under the brand name SunTel. The service has proven ineffective and has been changed to the current technology used under the name Zapp Mobile
. Since SunTel, the area code has been changed from 018 to 098 (now 0788).
In 1996, the first private phone companies, Connex and Dialog, were allotted from the remaining prefixes, which were county-like, 2 digits, prefixes. In the beginning, Connex got the prefix 92 and Dialog got 94. No other change happened, except that calling from a mobile to another mobile or landline implied the use of the national code, the area code (be it one of the regular ones or one of the new '9p'-series one) and the regular phone number, like a regular inter-county call, even if the caller and the callee had the same area code. Calling a Connex mobile from any phone in the country was 0-92-xxx-xxx. Afterwards, Connex also got 91 and 93 area codes, Dialog got 95 and 90, the newly-founded Zapp Mobile
got 98, and Cosmorom 96. Short numbers were now allowed in both the older form and in 4 digits long forms, both with a leading 9. The mobile codes have undergone further revision since this time - please see Present Day Telephone Codes, below.
One of the most popular premium rate numbering class was (01)8989-xxx, mostly used for media services and TV games. Therefore, the premium rate numbers were mostly known as "8989".
The internet dial-up services used similar numbers, like (01)893-xxxx and (0pp)890-xxx or (0pp)893-xxxx. Some premium-rate internet dial-up services used (01)899-xxxx. However, these services were charged at most twice or three times a local call, unless called from a different area.
For a short time before the current numbering plan, two area codes were implemented for toll-free numbers (080-xxx-xxx) and premium rate numbers (089-xxx-xxx). However, until the implementation of the current numbering plan, all the 018xx and 0xx89 numbers remained unchanged. A special call barring service has been introduced to prevent fraudulent calls to premium rate services. Even today there still are local numbers starting with 89, but only for internet dial-up, and they are migrating to the new area code 0870.
Usually mobile phone users and abroad callers could not and cannot access no-charge or extra-charge numbers. Extra-charge SMS were sent to three digits numbers, each company having its own system.
usage started to drop within Romania
, as the mobile phone
s market was growing fast. Mobile phone companies were running out of numbers, as both the main mobile companies claimed millions upon millions of subscribers. Also, as the imminent joining of the EU, was going to cause the state-owned company to lose its landline monopoly
, a reform was introduced in 2002. This modified the system to a 10 digits system, of which the first is always a national access code 0. The first 4 digits, including the leading 0, give the area code, in the format 0ZYX, where X, Y are digits from 0 to 9 and Z is a digit from 2 to 9. The geographic area codes for Bucharest are 0Z1, with a digit less than all the other area codes and an extra digit to the local number. For example, the Romtelecom
area code for Bucharest
is 021-xxx-xxxx, and for Neamţ County
is 0233-xxx-xxx.
The Z digit gives the type of the area code:
Most new landline companies, like UPC Romania (formerly Astral) or Romania Data Systems (RDS), were granted new area codes with Z=3, e.g. 031-xxx-xxxx for Bucharest, and 03pp-xxx-xxx for the rest of the country. Because these area codes are shared between more companies, the entire number must be dialed, even within the same network.
The numbers with Z=2, e.g. 021-xxx-xxxx or 02pp-xxx-xxx, belong almost exclusively to Romtelecom. However, smaller companies were granted numbers with these area codes, like 021-59x-xxxx, and the local numbers are assigned in descending order of the first 3 digits, like (599xxxx, 598xxxx, ..., or 529xxxx, 528xxxx, ...). In Bucharest, local numbers starting with 5 were not used by Romtelecom, hence the usage of this digit. For other counties, if 5 had not been used by Romtelecom, it is preferred for the first digit of numbers of other companies. There are few companies requesting numbering resources with Z=2, and in most cases the companies provide local service only and do not extend their network in the whole country.
Formerly within Romtelecom, local numbers were always dialed without area codes, but other numbers were always to be dialed with the area codes, even if it was the same one. However this was changed beginning with 3 May 2008: from that date Romtelecom subscribers can dial full 10 digit numbers for local calls, and since 1 August 2008 they are required to dial the full 10 digit number.
The mobile companies use area codes starting with 7: 71 for Romtelecom
, 72 and 73 for Vodafone Romania
(previously branded as Connex), 74 and 75 for Orange Romania
(previously branded as Dialog), 76 for Cosmote Romania
(previously branded as Cosmorom), 77 for RCS&RDS
, 78 for Zapp Mobile
, etc.
Free phone numbers start with 800 (like 0-800-xxx-xxx). Strangely, some companies to whom a numbering class is allocated may not grant toll-free access to those numbers for other networks. Therefore, sometimes a "toll-free" number is advertised as "toll free only within some operator".
Some 08pp codes are used for various services, like:
Extra-charge numbers start with 90p, with some service types with their own area codes, like business and financial information (0903) and adult entertainment (0906). There are few used area codes in the 09pp range, the rest of them are stated as reserved, unlike for the 08pp range, which holds more service types, either toll-free or not.
The former extra-charge numbers were starting with 021-89-xxxxx for Bucharest and 02pp-89x-xxx for the other regions, thus being a subset of the numbers owned by Romtelecom. Currently these numbers are sometimes used for premium rate or normal Internet dial-up services. The usage of these numbers for such services is however discouraged, as the new area code for Internet dial-up is 0870. There are some dial-up services using these numbers, and most of them begin with (021- or 02pp-)893 or 899.
Calling from Romania to Romania usually implies using the full 10 digits number. Romtelecom county codes were chosen on a geographical order, starting with northern Moldavia
(Suceava County
had 30), then going southwards to eastern Wallachia
, than westwards to southern Transylvania
, than northwards, closing the circle with the highest prefix, 69 (used for Sibiu County
). These county codes were extended to all landline area codes.
Extra-charge SMS are sent to three or four digits numbers, each company having its own system.
Short numbers are allowed in both the 3 digits and in 4 digits forms, with a leading 9, like 981 for the fire brigade, 961 for ambulance, 955 for police or 9xxx for various companies, including taxi, medical services, guards, information and others. Each town or county has it own special services, like firefighters, police, with the same number. The station to which these calls are directed is chosen based on location. Unlike for Bucharest, other regions use short numbers with 3 digits only, including the leading 9. These services are provided by Romtelecom, therefore the area code must be dialed before the number when calling from other network.
The short local numbers which are the same in the whole country are:
Some short numbers are used for network services, for rotary telephones which cannot dial * and #.
Romania joined the European initiative for a continent-wide emergency number, 112. With the implementation of this service, the former emergency numbers are no longer toll-free, unless they are redirected to 112.
Number portability is planned to be available after 21 October 2008.
Besides the 112 service, and the reserved 11x numbers, a number may not begin with 1. There are some special codes which start with 1:
When calling from abroad, the leading zero is dropped and replaced with the international access code and the country code, like +40-xxx-xxx-xxx. As usual, only regular landline and mobile phones are accessible from outside Romania.
Because Romania's international code is 40, some full numbers are sometimes wrongly advertised as +4 (or 004) followed by the national number, with the leading 0 included. The numbers are still valid, but sometimes even the 0 is dropped, so a call to a number written in this manner will fail. Those who do so mistakenly consider the international code as 4, and not 40. This mistake does not appear in media, but is sometimes observed on written phone numbers on vehicles, especially lorries or coaches.
When calling abroad from Romania, the international access code is 00. From mobile devices the + is also supported, as per the GSM system standard.
service is launched in October 2008. So any number can be used by any mobile provider.
Most VoIP
providers (SmartCall, TelefonIP) offer numbers bought from the wholesale service of Romtelecom. For charging and dialing reasons, these numbers appear to belong to Romtelecom to all other telephony providers.
Calling from Romania to Romania usually implies using the full 10 digits number. Short numbers for special services and for extra-charge SMS are invariable.
Romania joined the European initiative for a continent wide emergency number, 112, which replaced the 955 for Police, 961 for Ambulance and 981 for Firefighters.
The following are the national codes by county:
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
and Ilfov County
Ilfov County
Ilfov is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs or satellites of Bucharest...
, and two digits (30-69) for the rest of the country (one area code per county
Counties of Romania
The 41 judeţe and the municipality of Bucharest comprise the official administrative divisions of Romania. They also represent the European Union' s NUTS-3 geocode statistical subdivision scheme of Romania.-Overview:...
). Depending on the company that operates the ground line, before the county code another digit is used (2 for Romtelecom
Romtelecom
Romtelecom is the largest telecommunications company in Romania; the majority of shares are held by the Greek telecommunications company OTE . The Romanian state also has a minority stake of 45.99% in the company. The company had a monopoly for the provision of fixed telephony services until...
, 3 for most of the other landline telephony providers: Astral Telecom
Astral Telecom
UPC Romania is the 2nd largest cable television operator in Romania after RCS&RDS. UPC Romania provides video, broadband internet, and digital telephony services to 1.2 million customers as of December 31, 2009....
, RCS&RDS
RCS&RDS
RCS&RDS is the largest Romanian cable and internet provider, offering nationwide satellite television, cable television, cable internet, VOIP, and 3G services...
, etc).
Mobile phone numbers have a two digit code, regardless of the geographical area in which the user resides. The first digit of the code is a seven, and the second one gives the network:72 and 73 for Vodafone
Vodafone Romania
Vodafone is a Romanian mobile phone network operator. It launched in April 1997 as the first GSM network in Romania...
; 74 and 75 for Orange
Orange România
Orange România is Romania's largest GSM network operator, the subsidiary of Orange SA. It is now fully owned by the France Télécom Group , the biggest initial investor, who gradually increased its ownership....
; 76 for Cosmote
Cosmote România
Cosmote România is a Romanian mobile phone operator. It is the third largest mobile phone operator in the country, following Orange Romania and Vodafone Romania after surpassing Zapp Mobile...
; 77 for RDS DIGI.mobil;78 for Zapp Mobile
Zapp Mobile
Zapp Mobile is the first CDMA 450 MHz mobile phone operator in Romania, now part of Cosmote. Zapp has around 200,000 subscribers left, giving the CDMA network around 1% market share, and the number is declining because of migration of the customers to other GSM or UMTS networks...
.
The dialling plan for mobile networks (numbers starting with 07) and new landline operators (numbers starting with 03) is closed; all subscriber numbers must be dialled in full. For landline numbers starting with 02, the dialling plan used to be open; the trunk code and area code could be omitted if the caller was in the same area code as the callee. However, starting 3 May 2008, all landline numbers must be dialled in full.
Land Lines
During the Communist years, there was no direct international access. Numbers had 5 digits except for Bucharest, where numbers were 6 digits long. Area code started with 9 and were 2 digits long for Bucharest (90-xxx-xxx) and 3 digits long (9pp-xx-xxx) for the rest of the country. The Bucharest surrounding area had the area code 909, followed by 5 digits number.Somewhere in the end of the 80s, some big cities' area codes were upgraded, including the last digit of the area code into the local number, thus making it 6-digits long. However, dialing outside the city implied using the area code, even when the caller and the callee had the same area code. For example, a number from Iaşi
Iasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
was 981-xx-xxx, then it became 98-1xx-xxx. A number from Suceava
Suceava
Suceava is the Suceava County seat in Bukovina, Moldavia region, in north-eastern Romania. The city was the capital of the Principality of Moldavia from 1388 to 1565.-History:...
was 982-xx-xxx, but then it became 98-2xx-xxx. Apart from Bucharest, Braşov
Brasov
Brașov is a city in Romania and the capital of Brașov County.According to the last Romanian census, from 2002, there were 284,596 people living within the city of Brașov, making it the 8th most populated city in Romania....
was the first city to have 6-digit numbers.
Many smaller town or rural area calling implied using manual commutation circuits operated by humans.
Short numbers for special services, like cab companies, were three digits long, starting with 0:
- 00 used for checking the phone line.
- 01, later 011 local exchange operator (free number)
- 02, later 021 telephone line service (possibly telephone service, if bought or rented from the telephone company)
- 023 elevators service (only in Bucharest)
- 03, later 031 telephone directory
- 05, later 051 informations
- 055 police (unknown implementation on 2-digit codes)
- 058 exact time (from 10 to 10 seconds)
- 059 weather forecast (recorded message)
- 06, later 061 ambulance (free number)
- 07, later 071 international calls via operator
- 08, later 081 fire brigade (free number)
- 09, later 091 domestic calls via operator (reverse charge or calls to manual commutation lines)
After 1989, the then-monopolistic state-owned phone company started a process of upgrading its facilities. In 1992, it started increasing the size of a number to 7 digits in Bucharest and 6 digits in the rest of the country and by changing the prefixing scheme. The long distance code was changed from 9 to 0, the area code for Bucharest became 01, while to the rest of the country was temporarily given a 0 before the older area codes. For a short period, the surrounding of Bucharest (now Ilfov county) had the area code 0179, which has been eventually included into the Bucharest numbering plan as 01-79x-xxxx. The 02 code was used for calls to the Republic of Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
.
In 1993, the other counties were given new area codes (30 to 69). The previous area code system did not follow the country administrative regions. Outside county dialing required a national access code 0 (01-xxx-xxxx to Bucharest and 0pp-xxx-xxx for the rest of the country). In-county calling could be done without prefixes at all (xxx-xxxx to Bucharest and xxx-xxx for the rest of the country). Calling from outside meant +40-1-xxx-xxxx for Bucharest and +40-pp-xxx-xxx for the rest of the country. An international access code for Romanians calling abroad, 00, was adopted. County codes were selected on a geographical order, starting with northern Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
(Suceava County
Suceava County
Suceava is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Moldavia and few villages in Transylvania, with the capital city at Suceava.- Demographics :...
had 30), then going southwards to eastern Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
, than westwards to Banat
Banat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
, than northern Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
and it ends in the southern Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, until the biggest prefix , 69 (used for Sibiu County
Sibiu County
Sibiu is a county of Romania, in the historical region Transylvania, with the capital city Sibiu.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 421,724 and the population density was 78/km²....
). The short numbers for special services started with 9 and were three digits long. Each town or county has it own special services, callable with the same number throughout the country.
Mobile Numbers
The first mobile company was Telemobil (an ancestor of Zapp) and it started its service in 1993 using the analogue NMTNordic Mobile Telephone
NMT is the first fully automatic cellular phone system...
technology. The numbers for this network were using the area code 018-5xx-xxx and 018-6xx-xxx. As 01 was the area code for Bucharest, the mobile numbers had to be dialed with the area code included, even from Bucharest. However, dialing codes like 8888 from Bucharest would result in strange noises on the phone, or at best, the busy tone.
Somewhere around 1998, Telemobil changed its technology to Low Emission Mobile System (LEMS) and operated under the brand name SunTel. The service has proven ineffective and has been changed to the current technology used under the name Zapp Mobile
Zapp Mobile
Zapp Mobile is the first CDMA 450 MHz mobile phone operator in Romania, now part of Cosmote. Zapp has around 200,000 subscribers left, giving the CDMA network around 1% market share, and the number is declining because of migration of the customers to other GSM or UMTS networks...
. Since SunTel, the area code has been changed from 018 to 098 (now 0788).
In 1996, the first private phone companies, Connex and Dialog, were allotted from the remaining prefixes, which were county-like, 2 digits, prefixes. In the beginning, Connex got the prefix 92 and Dialog got 94. No other change happened, except that calling from a mobile to another mobile or landline implied the use of the national code, the area code (be it one of the regular ones or one of the new '9p'-series one) and the regular phone number, like a regular inter-county call, even if the caller and the callee had the same area code. Calling a Connex mobile from any phone in the country was 0-92-xxx-xxx. Afterwards, Connex also got 91 and 93 area codes, Dialog got 95 and 90, the newly-founded Zapp Mobile
Zapp Mobile
Zapp Mobile is the first CDMA 450 MHz mobile phone operator in Romania, now part of Cosmote. Zapp has around 200,000 subscribers left, giving the CDMA network around 1% market share, and the number is declining because of migration of the customers to other GSM or UMTS networks...
got 98, and Cosmorom 96. Short numbers were now allowed in both the older form and in 4 digits long forms, both with a leading 9. The mobile codes have undergone further revision since this time - please see Present Day Telephone Codes, below.
Toll-free and premium rate
At the same time, no-charge numbers were allocated to special area codes or to the Bucharest area code, looking like 01800-xxxx . Under a special agreement, even before this reform, foreign operators could be reached at various numbers, usually in the area code 800 (AT&T used 01800-1800). The extra-charge numbers were allotted in the area code 0189, being called like 0189-xxx-xxx (mandatory national access code). This has been extended to all area codes, as 0pp-89x-xxx, and callers could dial them without the area codes, like the regular local calls. This made them too accessible to children and sometimes telephone lines were hijacked to make calls to these services, then to be charged to the line subscribers who never made these calls by themselves. It was very customary to the aggressive advertising to write the costs of the services with small fonts, likely unreadable on the TV screen, then announcing the first 20 seconds free, writing the "free" word in bigger size, to induce the idea of the calls being all free.One of the most popular premium rate numbering class was (01)8989-xxx, mostly used for media services and TV games. Therefore, the premium rate numbers were mostly known as "8989".
The internet dial-up services used similar numbers, like (01)893-xxxx and (0pp)890-xxx or (0pp)893-xxxx. Some premium-rate internet dial-up services used (01)899-xxxx. However, these services were charged at most twice or three times a local call, unless called from a different area.
For a short time before the current numbering plan, two area codes were implemented for toll-free numbers (080-xxx-xxx) and premium rate numbers (089-xxx-xxx). However, until the implementation of the current numbering plan, all the 018xx and 0xx89 numbers remained unchanged. A special call barring service has been introduced to prevent fraudulent calls to premium rate services. Even today there still are local numbers starting with 89, but only for internet dial-up, and they are migrating to the new area code 0870.
Usually mobile phone users and abroad callers could not and cannot access no-charge or extra-charge numbers. Extra-charge SMS were sent to three digits numbers, each company having its own system.
Last years
In the last years, landlineLandline
A landline was originally an overland telegraph wire, as opposed to an undersea cable. Currently, landline refers to a telephone line which travels through a solid medium, either metal wire or optical fibre, as distinguished from a mobile cellular line, where transmission is via radio waves...
usage started to drop within Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, as the mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s market was growing fast. Mobile phone companies were running out of numbers, as both the main mobile companies claimed millions upon millions of subscribers. Also, as the imminent joining of the EU, was going to cause the state-owned company to lose its landline monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
, a reform was introduced in 2002. This modified the system to a 10 digits system, of which the first is always a national access code 0. The first 4 digits, including the leading 0, give the area code, in the format 0ZYX, where X, Y are digits from 0 to 9 and Z is a digit from 2 to 9. The geographic area codes for Bucharest are 0Z1, with a digit less than all the other area codes and an extra digit to the local number. For example, the Romtelecom
Romtelecom
Romtelecom is the largest telecommunications company in Romania; the majority of shares are held by the Greek telecommunications company OTE . The Romanian state also has a minority stake of 45.99% in the company. The company had a monopoly for the provision of fixed telephony services until...
area code for Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
is 021-xxx-xxxx, and for Neamţ County
Neamt County
Neamț is a county of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. It has three communes, Bicaz-Chei, Bicazu Ardelean and Dămuc in Transylvania.-Demographics:...
is 0233-xxx-xxx.
The Z digit gives the type of the area code:
- Z=2 and 3 means a landline number; the YX code is 1 (with extra digit for local number) for Bucharest, from 30 to 69 for a county code, and 70 to 79 for non-geographic landline numbers;
- Z=7 (and possibly 6 in the future) means a mobile number; 070p-xxxxxx numbers are reserved for virtual operators, while 071p-xxxxxx to 079p-xxxxxx are reserved for certain mobile company code
- Z=8 means either a toll-free (0800-xxxxxx), shared cost, personal numbering, virtual cards, pre-paid cards, or internet dial-up numbers
- Z=9 means a premium-rate number, like 0900-xxx-xxx; business and financial information and service use 0903-xxx-xxx and adult entertainment use 0906-xxx-xxx
Most new landline companies, like UPC Romania (formerly Astral) or Romania Data Systems (RDS), were granted new area codes with Z=3, e.g. 031-xxx-xxxx for Bucharest, and 03pp-xxx-xxx for the rest of the country. Because these area codes are shared between more companies, the entire number must be dialed, even within the same network.
The numbers with Z=2, e.g. 021-xxx-xxxx or 02pp-xxx-xxx, belong almost exclusively to Romtelecom. However, smaller companies were granted numbers with these area codes, like 021-59x-xxxx, and the local numbers are assigned in descending order of the first 3 digits, like (599xxxx, 598xxxx, ..., or 529xxxx, 528xxxx, ...). In Bucharest, local numbers starting with 5 were not used by Romtelecom, hence the usage of this digit. For other counties, if 5 had not been used by Romtelecom, it is preferred for the first digit of numbers of other companies. There are few companies requesting numbering resources with Z=2, and in most cases the companies provide local service only and do not extend their network in the whole country.
Formerly within Romtelecom, local numbers were always dialed without area codes, but other numbers were always to be dialed with the area codes, even if it was the same one. However this was changed beginning with 3 May 2008: from that date Romtelecom subscribers can dial full 10 digit numbers for local calls, and since 1 August 2008 they are required to dial the full 10 digit number.
The mobile companies use area codes starting with 7: 71 for Romtelecom
Romtelecom
Romtelecom is the largest telecommunications company in Romania; the majority of shares are held by the Greek telecommunications company OTE . The Romanian state also has a minority stake of 45.99% in the company. The company had a monopoly for the provision of fixed telephony services until...
, 72 and 73 for Vodafone Romania
Vodafone Romania
Vodafone is a Romanian mobile phone network operator. It launched in April 1997 as the first GSM network in Romania...
(previously branded as Connex), 74 and 75 for Orange Romania
Orange România
Orange România is Romania's largest GSM network operator, the subsidiary of Orange SA. It is now fully owned by the France Télécom Group , the biggest initial investor, who gradually increased its ownership....
(previously branded as Dialog), 76 for Cosmote Romania
Cosmote România
Cosmote România is a Romanian mobile phone operator. It is the third largest mobile phone operator in the country, following Orange Romania and Vodafone Romania after surpassing Zapp Mobile...
(previously branded as Cosmorom), 77 for RCS&RDS
RCS&RDS
RCS&RDS is the largest Romanian cable and internet provider, offering nationwide satellite television, cable television, cable internet, VOIP, and 3G services...
, 78 for Zapp Mobile
Zapp Mobile
Zapp Mobile is the first CDMA 450 MHz mobile phone operator in Romania, now part of Cosmote. Zapp has around 200,000 subscribers left, giving the CDMA network around 1% market share, and the number is declining because of migration of the customers to other GSM or UMTS networks...
, etc.
Free phone numbers start with 800 (like 0-800-xxx-xxx). Strangely, some companies to whom a numbering class is allocated may not grant toll-free access to those numbers for other networks. Therefore, sometimes a "toll-free" number is advertised as "toll free only within some operator".
Some 08pp codes are used for various services, like:
- 0801 for shared-cost numbers
- 0802 for personal numbering
- 0806 for virtual cards
- 0807 for pre-paid cards
- 087p for Internet dial-up; for the moment, only 0870 is used
Extra-charge numbers start with 90p, with some service types with their own area codes, like business and financial information (0903) and adult entertainment (0906). There are few used area codes in the 09pp range, the rest of them are stated as reserved, unlike for the 08pp range, which holds more service types, either toll-free or not.
The former extra-charge numbers were starting with 021-89-xxxxx for Bucharest and 02pp-89x-xxx for the other regions, thus being a subset of the numbers owned by Romtelecom. Currently these numbers are sometimes used for premium rate or normal Internet dial-up services. The usage of these numbers for such services is however discouraged, as the new area code for Internet dial-up is 0870. There are some dial-up services using these numbers, and most of them begin with (021- or 02pp-)893 or 899.
Calling from Romania to Romania usually implies using the full 10 digits number. Romtelecom county codes were chosen on a geographical order, starting with northern Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
(Suceava County
Suceava County
Suceava is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Moldavia and few villages in Transylvania, with the capital city at Suceava.- Demographics :...
had 30), then going southwards to eastern Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
, than westwards to southern Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, than northwards, closing the circle with the highest prefix, 69 (used for Sibiu County
Sibiu County
Sibiu is a county of Romania, in the historical region Transylvania, with the capital city Sibiu.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 421,724 and the population density was 78/km²....
). These county codes were extended to all landline area codes.
Extra-charge SMS are sent to three or four digits numbers, each company having its own system.
Short numbers are allowed in both the 3 digits and in 4 digits forms, with a leading 9, like 981 for the fire brigade, 961 for ambulance, 955 for police or 9xxx for various companies, including taxi, medical services, guards, information and others. Each town or county has it own special services, like firefighters, police, with the same number. The station to which these calls are directed is chosen based on location. Unlike for Bucharest, other regions use short numbers with 3 digits only, including the leading 9. These services are provided by Romtelecom, therefore the area code must be dialed before the number when calling from other network.
The short local numbers which are the same in the whole country are:
- 02YX-922 Romtelecom devices service (for phones and other equipment bought or rented from Romtelecom), 021-9222 for Bucharest
- 02YX-925 Romtelecom GBM sales and customer support, 021-9255 for Bucharest
- 02YX-923 or 02YX-926 elevator service, 021-923(x) or 021-926(x) for more companies in Bucharest
- 02YX-928 former local gas company; new companies use other numbers; in Bucharest 021-928x for more gas companies
- 02YX-929 electricity company; 021-9291 for Bucharest and 021-9292 for surrounding area
- 02YX-953 former state-owned taxi company; the privatised company still holds this number, 021-9531 for Bucharest
- 02YX-954 former state-owned freight taxi company; the privatised company still holds this number, 021-9541 for Bucharest
- 02YX-955 police, 021-9555 for Bucharest; no longer toll-free since the implementation of 1121-1-2112 is the principal emergency telephone number that can be dialed free of charge from any telephone or any mobile phone in order to reach emergency services in the European Union , its candidates for accession, members of the EEA agreement, as well as several other countries in the world...
- 02YX-956 gendarmerie, 021-9566 for Bucharest; formerly a taxi company number in Bucharest
- 02YX-959 Border police, 021-9590 for Bucharest; (probably on counties along the country border or holding international airports)
- 02YX-961 state-owned ambulance and medical service 021-9611 for Bucharest; allegedly no longer toll-free since the implementation of 112
- 971 international calls via operator (this Romtelecom service is an exception and keeps the original short format even after 1 August 2008)
- 02YX-981 fire brigade, 021-9811 for Bucharest; allegedly no longer toll-free since the implementation of 112
- 991 domestic calls via operator, for reverse charge calls (this Romtelecom service is another exception and keeps the original short format even after 1 August 2008)
Some short numbers are used for network services, for rotary telephones which cannot dial * and #.
Romania joined the European initiative for a continent-wide emergency number, 112. With the implementation of this service, the former emergency numbers are no longer toll-free, unless they are redirected to 112.
Number portability is planned to be available after 21 October 2008.
Besides the 112 service, and the reserved 11x numbers, a number may not begin with 1. There are some special codes which start with 1:
- 10xx carrier selection, with intermediate tone
- 16xx carrier selection, followed by number
- 19x(...) nationwide short numbers (implemented since 2 May 2008)
- 1921 Romtelecom phone line service
- 1930 Romtelecom sales and customer support
- 118932 Romtelecom directory information
- 1932 Romtelecom directory information in Hungarian language
- 1951 Various information service
- 1957 telegrams
- 1958 current time announcement (from 10 to 10 seconds)
When calling from abroad, the leading zero is dropped and replaced with the international access code and the country code, like +40-xxx-xxx-xxx. As usual, only regular landline and mobile phones are accessible from outside Romania.
Because Romania's international code is 40, some full numbers are sometimes wrongly advertised as +4 (or 004) followed by the national number, with the leading 0 included. The numbers are still valid, but sometimes even the 0 is dropped, so a call to a number written in this manner will fail. Those who do so mistakenly consider the international code as 4, and not 40. This mistake does not appear in media, but is sometimes observed on written phone numbers on vehicles, especially lorries or coaches.
When calling abroad from Romania, the international access code is 00. From mobile devices the + is also supported, as per the GSM system standard.
Mobile Phone codes
MNPMobile 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...
service is launched in October 2008. So any number can be used by any mobile provider.
| Providers | Code (prior to October 2008) |
|---|---|
| Romtelecom Romtelecom Romtelecom is the largest telecommunications company in Romania; the majority of shares are held by the Greek telecommunications company OTE . The Romanian state also has a minority stake of 45.99% in the company. The company had a monopoly for the provision of fixed telephony services until... |
71 |
| Vodafone Romania Vodafone Romania Vodafone is a Romanian mobile phone network operator. It launched in April 1997 as the first GSM network in Romania... |
72, 73 |
| Orange Romania Orange România Orange România is Romania's largest GSM network operator, the subsidiary of Orange SA. It is now fully owned by the France Télécom Group , the biggest initial investor, who gradually increased its ownership.... |
74, 75 |
| Cosmote Cosmote România Cosmote România is a Romanian mobile phone operator. It is the third largest mobile phone operator in the country, following Orange Romania and Vodafone Romania after surpassing Zapp Mobile... |
76 |
| RCS&RDS / DigiMobil RCS&RDS RCS&RDS is the largest Romanian cable and internet provider, offering nationwide satellite television, cable television, cable internet, VOIP, and 3G services... |
77 |
| Zapp Zapp Mobile Zapp Mobile is the first CDMA 450 MHz mobile phone operator in Romania, now part of Cosmote. Zapp has around 200,000 subscribers left, giving the CDMA network around 1% market share, and the number is declining because of migration of the customers to other GSM or UMTS networks... |
78 |
Present Day Telephone Codes
Due to what was seen as more affordable, landline usage started to drop as mobile phones market was growing fast. Mobile phone companies were running out of numbers, as both the main mobile companies claimed million after million of subscribers. Also, due to approaching EU join, the state-owned company was going to lose the landline monopoly. A 2002 reform modified the system to an 10 digits system, starting with the leading national access code 0 (which is dropped when calling from outside Romania and replaced with +40):- the landline RomtelecomRomtelecomRomtelecom is the largest telecommunications company in Romania; the majority of shares are held by the Greek telecommunications company OTE . The Romanian state also has a minority stake of 45.99% in the company. The company had a monopoly for the provision of fixed telephony services until...
numbers gained a 2 in front of the area code (a Bucharest number became 021-xxx-xxxx and the other regions got numbers like 02pp-xxx-xxxx) - the new landline companies were granted new area codes starting with 3, e.g. an Astral TelecomAstral TelecomUPC Romania is the 2nd largest cable television operator in Romania after RCS&RDS. UPC Romania provides video, broadband internet, and digital telephony services to 1.2 million customers as of December 31, 2009....
landline number will be 03pp-xxx-xxx, with the same 2-digit county code as Romtelecom (or the same 1 for Bucharest) - the mobile companies got an extra digit in the area code by replacing the leading 9 with a company specific prefix like 72 for Connex (now Connex-Vodafone), 74 for Dialog (now Orange RomaniaOrange RomâniaOrange România is Romania's largest GSM network operator, the subsidiary of Orange SA. It is now fully owned by the France Télécom Group , the biggest initial investor, who gradually increased its ownership....
) etc.; a Connex-Vodafone number will become 072p-xxx-xxx - no-charge number area codes is 800 (like 0-800-xxx-xxx)
- extra-charge numbers are starting with 021-89, like a subset of the numbers owned by Romtelecom in Bucharest.
Most VoIP
Voice over IP
Voice over Internet Protocol is a family of technologies, methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission techniques for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol networks, such as the Internet...
providers (SmartCall, TelefonIP) offer numbers bought from the wholesale service of Romtelecom. For charging and dialing reasons, these numbers appear to belong to Romtelecom to all other telephony providers.
Calling from Romania to Romania usually implies using the full 10 digits number. Short numbers for special services and for extra-charge SMS are invariable.
Romania joined the European initiative for a continent wide emergency number, 112, which replaced the 955 for Police, 961 for Ambulance and 981 for Firefighters.
The following are the national codes by county:
| County | Code |
|---|---|
| Alba Alba County Alba is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, its capital city being Alba-Iulia with a population of 66,406.- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 382,747 and the population density was 61/km².* Romanians - 90.4%* Hungarians - 5.4%... |
0a58 |
| Arad Arad County Arad is an administrative division of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crişana and few villages in Banat. The administrative center of the county lies in the city of Arad... |
0a57 |
| Argeş Arges County Argeș is a county of Romania, in Wallachia, with the capital city at Pitești.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 652,625 and the population density was 95/km².*Romanians – 96%*Roma , and other.-Geography:... |
0a48 |
| Bacău Bacau County Bacău is a county of Romania, in Moldavia, with its capital city at Bacău. It has one commune, Ghimeş-Făget, in Transylvania.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 706,623 and the population density was 113/km².... |
0a34 |
| Bihor Bihor County Bihor is a county of Romania, in Crişana, with capital city at Oradea. Together with Hajdú-Bihar County in Hungary it constitutes the Biharia Euroregion.-Demographics:... |
0a59 |
| Bistriţa-Năsăud Bistrita-Nasaud County Bistrița-Năsăud is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Bistrița.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 311,657 and the population density was 58/km².*Romanians – 90.3%*Hungarians – 5.9%*Roma – 3.6%... |
0a63 |
| Botoşani Botosani County Botoșani is a county of Romania, in Moldavia, with the capital city at Botoșani.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 452,834 and the population density was 91/km2.*Romanians – – the highest percentage of Romanians in Romania... |
0a31 |
| Braşov Brasov County Brașov ; ) is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" Burzenland and Făgăraș Land.-Demographics:... |
0a68 |
| Brăila Braila County Brăila is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Brăila.- Demographics :In 2002, Brăila had a population of 373,174 and the population density was 78/km².*Romanians – 98%*Romas, Russians, Lipovans, Aromanians and others.... |
0a39 |
| Bucureşti | 0a1 |
| Buzău Buzau County Buzău is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Buzău.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 496,214 and the population density was 81/km².*Romanians – 97%*Roma – under 3% declared, and others.... |
0a38 |
| Caraş-Severin Caras-Severin County Caraș-Severin is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Banat and few villages in Transylvania, with the county seat at Reșița.-Demographics:The county is part of the Danube-Kris-Mureș-Tisza euroregion.... |
0a55 |
| Călăraşi Calarasi County Călărași is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Călărași.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 324,617 and a population density of 64/km².*Romanians – 95%*Roma and others.-List of cities by population:... |
0a42 |
| Cluj Cluj County Cluj ; is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Cluj-Napoca.-Demographics:In 2007, it had a population of 692,316 and a population density of 104/km².*Romanians – 80%*Hungarians – 17.5%*Roma – 2.5%-Geography:... |
0a64 |
| Constanţa Constanta County Constanța is the name of a county in the Dobruja region of Romania. Its capital city is also named Constanța.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 715,151 and the population density was 101/km². The degree of urbanization is much higher than the Romanian average. In recent years the... |
0a41 |
| Covasna Covasna County Covasna is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with the capital city at Sfântu Gheorghe.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 222,449 and the population density was 60/km².*Hungarians – 73.79% *Romanians – 23.28%... |
0a67 |
| Dâmboviţa Dâmbovita County Dâmbovița ; also spelt Dîmbovița is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Târgoviște.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 541,763 and the population density was 134/km²... |
0a45 |
| Dolj Dolj County Dolj -Jiu, "lower Jiu", toward Gorj ) is a county of Romania, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova .- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 734,231 and a population density of 99/km².... |
0a51 |
| Galaţi Galati County Galaţi is a county of Romania, in Moldavia region, with the capital city at Galaţi.-History:Historically Galaţi is part of Moldavia... |
0a36 |
| Giurgiu Giurgiu County Giurgiu is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Giurgiu.- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 297,859 and the population density was 84/km².* Romanians – over 96%* Roma – 3.5%, and others.- Geography :... |
0a46 |
| Gorj Gorj County Gorj is a county of Romania, in Oltenia, with its capital city at Târgu Jiu.- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 387,308 and its population density was 69/km².* Romanians – over 98%* Rromas, others.- Geography :... |
0a53 |
| Harghita Harghita County Harghita is a county in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea-Ciuc.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 326,222 and a population density of 52/km².*Hungarians- 85%... |
0a66 |
| Hunedoara Hunedoara County Hunedoara is a county of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 485,712 and the population density was 69/km².*Romanians - 92%*Hungarians - 5%*Romas - 2%*Germans under 1%.... |
0a54 |
| Ialomiţa Ialomita County Ialomița is a county of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 296,572 and the population density was 67/km².... |
0a43 |
| Iaşi Iasi County Iași is a county of Romania, in Moldavia, with the administrative seat at Iași.-Demographics:As of 1 July 2007, Iași County had a population of 825,100, making it the second most populous county in Romania after Bucharest, with a population density of 150/km².*Romanians - 98.1%*Roma -... |
0a32 |
| Ilfov Ilfov County Ilfov is the county that surrounds Bucharest, the capital of Romania. It used to be largely rural, but after the fall of communism, many of the county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns, which act like suburbs or satellites of Bucharest... |
0a1 |
| Maramureş Maramures County Maramureș is a county of Romania, in the Maramureș region. The county seat is Baia Mare.- History :* The 10th century frontier county of Borsova was founded by Stephen I of Hungary. Since then Máramaros served as the north-eastern border of the Hungarian Kingdom until 1920, the Trianon Peace... |
0a62 |
| Mehedinţi Mehedinti County Mehedinţi is a county of Romania. It is mostly located in the historical province of Oltenia, with one municipality and three communes located in the Banat... |
0a52 |
| Mureş Mures County Mureș is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș.-Geography:The county has a total area of 6,714 km².... |
0a65 |
| Neamţ Neamt County Neamț is a county of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. It has three communes, Bicaz-Chei, Bicazu Ardelean and Dămuc in Transylvania.-Demographics:... |
0a33 |
| Olt Olt County Olt is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia . The capital city is Slatina.- Demographics :In 2002, it had a population of 489,274 and the population density was 89/km².... |
0a49 |
| Prahova Prahova County Prahova is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploieşti.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 829,945 and the population density was 176/km². It is Romania's most populated county, having a population density double than the country's mean... |
0a44 |
| Satu Mare Satu Mare County Satu Mare County is a county of Romania. The capital city is Satu Mare. Besides Romanians , Satu Mare features a significant ethnic minority of Hungarians .-Demographics:... |
0a61 |
| Sălaj Salaj County Sălaj is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Crișana and Transylvania, with the capital city at Zalău.-Geography:Sălaj county has a total area of .... |
0a60 |
| Sibiu Sibiu County Sibiu is a county of Romania, in the historical region Transylvania, with the capital city Sibiu.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 421,724 and the population density was 78/km².... |
0a69 |
| Suceava Suceava County Suceava is a county of Romania, in the historical region of Moldavia and few villages in Transylvania, with the capital city at Suceava.- Demographics :... |
0a30 |
| Teleorman Teleorman County Teleorman is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with its capital city at Alexandria.The name Teleorman is of Cumanic origin. It literally means crazy forest and, by extension, "thick and shadowy forest" in the Cuman language... |
0a47 |
| Timiş Timis County Timiș , , Banat Bulgarian: ) is a county of western Romania, in the historical region Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the largest county in Romania in terms of land area.... |
0a56 |
| Tulcea Tulcea County Tulcea is a county of Romania, in the historical region Dobruja, with the capital city at Tulcea.-Demographics:In 2002, Tulcea County had a population of 256,492... |
0a40 |
| Vaslui Vaslui County Vaslui is a county of Romania, in the historical region Moldavia, with the seat at Vaslui.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 455,049 and the population density was 86/km².*Romanians - over 98%*Romas, other-Geography:... |
0a35 |
| Vâlcea Vâlcea County Vâlcea is a county of Romania, in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia... |
0a50 |
| Vrancea Vrancea County Vrancea is a county in Romania, with its seat at Focşani. It is mostly in the historical region of Moldavia but the southern part, below the Milcov River, is in Muntenia.-Demographics:... |
0a37 |