DOHA: Starting July 28 this year, all mobile and fixed telephone numbers from both Qtel and Vodafone will have eight digits, the Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQatar) announced yesterday.
IctQatar officials decided to expand the phone numbering system from seven to eight digits to prepare the telecommunications industry early since they projected that Qatar's population will double by 2015 and subsequently businesses will also expand with the existing numbering system no longer meeting the demand.
William Fagan, Executive Director of ictQatar regulatory authority, said that the success of allowing competition to the telecommunication industry that led to the entry of Vodafone as a new player has notably increased the penetration rate among mobile users to 150 percent.
"Competition has driven growth in the demand for telephone numbers, with many customers having more than one handset. As policy and regulatory body, we are ensuring that businesses and individual consumers will be able to access a broad range of network services for years to come," Fagan said.
Fagan has seen an increase of three to five million people in the country by 2015 that the new numbering plan will create an additional 36 million mobile and nine million fixed telephone numbers.
Saleh Al Kuwari, ictQatar chief technical manager who also chairs ictQatar's phone numbering committee, said the increasing demand of telecom services from consumers based on the study they made last year has finalised their decision to add one more digit to the phone numbering system.
The expansion of phone number digits has nothing to do with welcoming another telecom operator in the country, Fagan clarified, even as he pointed out that they will consider reviewing it looking into the sustainability of market share.
The change to eight digit numbers will happen automatically and seamlessly on July 28, for all customers -- whether Qtel or Vodafone with no interruption of service on both networks. For both fixed and mobile users, the first digit of the number will be repeated, so that numbers that begin with 3 will now start with 33, those starting with 7 will now be 77. The only affected numbers will be those starting with 3,4,5,6 and 7. All emergency telephone numbers within Qatar, including 999 and 112, will not be affected by the change. Numbers used for SMS, toll free and paging services, as well as short codes, and the numbers owned by the Ministry of Interior will also remain the same. These begin with 1, 2, 8 and 9. 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 correct new eight digit number.
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.
ictQatar is working closely with Qtel and Vodafone as well as the International Telecommunications Union and other international stakeholders to create awareness of the upcoming changes.
By Chris V Panganiban
© The Peninsula 2010
