Telephone numbers in the Philippines

Philippines telephone numbers

Fixed line area codes
Location
Country	Philippines
Continent	Asia
Type	open
Typical format	0XX-XXXXXXX
Access codes
Country code	+63
International call prefix	00
Trunk prefix	0

Telephone numbers in the Philippines follow an open telephone numbering plan and an open dial plan. Both plans are regulated by the National Telecommunications Commission, an attached agency under the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

The Philippines is assigned an international dialling code of 63 by ITU-T. Telephone numbers are fixed at seven digits, with area codes fixed at one, two, or three digits (the six digits system was used until the mid-1990s; four to five digits were used in the countryside). When making long-distance calls in the Philippines, use the prefix 0 for domestic calls and 00 for international calls.

Fixed-line area codes

Philippine area codes for fixed-line or landline telephones are fixed at two digits, excluding Metro Manila, the province of Rizal and the towns of Obando in Bulacan and San Pedro, Laguna, which use the area code 2. Some smaller carriers concentrated within a specific geographic area may issue four- or five-digit area codes, but these are being phased out in favour of the standard two-digit area codes.

Shared codes

Sometimes area codes are shared by a number of local government entities to maximise their use. Some area codes are shared by multiple provinces, as is the case for former sub-provinces like Guimaras and Iloilo; newly-carved provinces like Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga del Sur; or provinces with small populations like Marinduque and Quezon. In extreme cases, area codes are shared across an island like in Leyte and Samar, or even entire regions, such as with the Cordillera Administrative Region. In order to identify the call's point of origin, the three-digit telephone exchange prefix is checked.

Since the Philippines employs an open dial plan, telephone numbers dialled within a given area code do not require the area code, excluding calls made from mobile phones or pay phones. When dialling other area codes, the domestic long distance access prefix 0 is added, but when dialling from overseas, the domestic prefix is not included. As such, a typical telephone number in Metro Manila and Rizal would look like this:

• Within Metro Manila, Rizal and Obando, Bulacan: 1234567
• Outside Metro Manila, Rizal and Obando, Bulacan: 02-1234567
• Overseas calls: +63-2-1234567

Areas are grouped into seven broad areas determining the first digit of a given area code. These areas and their accompanying area codes are listed below:

• 2: Metro Manila, Rizal, Bulacan (Obando), Laguna (San Pedro)
• 3: Cebu (32), Guimaras and Iloilo (33), Negros Occidental (34), Negros Oriental and Siquijor (35), Aklan, Antique and Capiz (36), Bohol (38)
• 4: Aurora, Marinduque, Quezon and Romblon (42), Batangas, Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro (43), Bulacan (except Obando) and Nueva Ecija (44), Pampanga and Tarlac (45), Cavite (46), Bataan and Zambales (47), Palawan (48), Laguna (49)
• 5: Albay and Catanduanes (52), Biliran, Leyte and Southern Leyte (53), Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur (54), Eastern Samar, Northern Samar and Western Samar (55), Masbate and Sorsogon (56)
• 6: Basilan, Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay (62), Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur (63), Cotabato, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat (64), Zamboanga del Norte (65), Sulu and Tawi-Tawi (68)
• 7: La Union (72), the Cordillera Administrative Region (74), Pangasinan (75), Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur (77), the Cagayan Valley (78)
• 8: Davao del Sur (82), Sarangani and South Cotabato (83), Davao del Norte (84), Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur (85), Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur (86), Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental (87), Bukidnon, Camiguin, Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental (88)

Mobile phone area codes

Mobile phone area codes are three digits long and always start with the number 9, although recently new area codes have been issued with 8 as the starting digit. Unlike fixed-line telephones, the long-distance telephone dialling format is always observed when using a mobile phone.

Originally there were only three area codes for mobile phones: 917 for Globe Telecom, 918 for Smart Communications and 973 for Express Telecom, the three existing mobile companies at the time. As service began growing rapidly since the 1990s, new codes have been added to meet demand as existing codes have since been exhausted. Newer codes often come immediately after the last code exhausted, but this might not be the case if the next code is already in use.

Areas codes are grouped by provider with no single contiguous block of codes for a single provider. These companies and their respective area codes are listed below:

Key:

• "G": Globe Telecom
• "N": Next Mobile
• "SM": Smart Communications
  • "R": Red Mobile (Smart subsidiary)
• "SU": Sun Cellular
• "E": Express Telecom (defunct)

First 2 digits	Last digit
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0
81			SM				G
90					G	G	SM	SM	SM	SM
91	SM		SM			G	G	SM	SM	SM
92	SM	SU	SU		SU	G	G	SM	SM	SM
93	SM	SU	SU	SU	SU	G	G	SM R	SM	SM
94		SU	SU	SU			SM	SM	SM	SM
95
96
97			E	E					N
98										SM
99						G	G	SM	SM

See also

• List of ZIP codes in the Philippines

References

• ITU allocations list

External links

• National Telecommunications Commission
• White Pages Philippines