As of January 1, 2023, the geographical limitations of fixed telephone numbers beginning with 01, 02, 03, 04 or 05 will be relaxed, according to a decision of the telecommunications regulator (Arcep), which will allow you to maintain your number in case of a removal in another area of metropolitan France.
Until December 31, 2022, each geographical number that begins with 01, 02, 03, 04 or 05 is associated with one of the five large areas that segment the metropolitan territory, in turn subdivided into 412 smaller areas, called area elemental numeration (ZNE). The user then necessarily had to use a number corresponding to this ZNE.
Have an 02 without being in Brittany
Already in 2019, Arcep had begun to relax its rules. Notably, the authority allowed a resident to keep their phone number, but only if they moved within the same area.
The five geographic areas linked to the phone numbers (first 2 digits of the number):
01: Île-de-France; 02: Northwest; 03: Northeast; 04: Southeast; 05: Southwest
As of January 1, 2023, a resident of Lyon whose landline number begins with 04 and who moves to Rennes will be able to keep their landline number.
A new fixed subscriber who lives in Rennes can also ask his operator, if he wishes, that his number does not start with 02, explains Arcep in an explanatory note.
Practical necessity and economic bet
“Fixed numbers abroad remain specific to each territory and any subscriber can move within their territory while keeping their number. On the other hand, it is not yet possible to keep your fixed number by moving to another overseas territory or to mainland France”, adds the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
Why such a change? At a technological level, this development was possible thanks to “the generalization” of communications via the Internet (or voice over IP) for fixed telephony calls, “which eliminated the geographical limitations that existed before,” explains Arcep.
Above all, it responds to a “practical need” for individuals and an economic challenge for companies, he adds. “A move of a few kilometers to a neighboring town located in another ZNE was enough for a company to be faced with the loss of its fixed telephone number,” he explains.
Source: BFM TV
