The Swisstelephone numbering plan implements the ITU-T recommendation E.164 and is designated E.164/2002, based on its last major revision in 2002. It is a closed numbering plan, which means that all telephone numbers, including the area code, have a fixed number of digits. Swiss area codes are officially termed national destination codes. A complete telephone number consists of ten digits: . Two formats are distinguished: three digits for the NDC and seven digits for the subscriber number, and four digits for the NDC and six digits for the subscriber number. However, a few exceptions exist. The associated dial plan requires that all numbers, even for local calls, must be dialed with the assigned NDC, in contrast to previous plans. When dialing from within the country, a prefix 0 must be dialed. The plan was amended a few times, e.g., the transition of numbering zone 01 into 044 and 043.
National destination code
The national destination code is the area code for Swiss telephone numbers. Within Switzerland the trunk code 0 must be dialed before the NDC, while it is not needed from international locations. Telephone numbers are portable between numbering zones or between GSM/UTMS mobile operators, and therefore an NDC does not imply that a caller is actually located in a particular zone or is serviced by any particular mobile operator. For landlines it is now merely an indication of the region where the number was originally attributed to a subscriber. The national destination codes are the following.
1145 – Directory enquiries for blind/partially sighted
117 – Police
118 – Fire brigade
140 – Road assistance
1414 – Air ambulance
1415 – Air ambulance
143 – Psychological assistance
144 – Ambulance
145 – Poisoning/intoxication emergency
147 – Helpline for children
1600 – Regional announcement voice mail
161 – Speaking clock
162 – Weather forecast and meteorological conditions
163 – Traffic report and travel information
164 – Sport news and lottery
166 – Railway information
176 – Feld Abfrage System
187 – Info about snow avalanches
188 – Info about exhibitions
1802 – Directory enquiries
1811 – Directory enquiries
1818 – Directory enquiries
1880 – Directory enquiries
Alternate proposed plan
Instead of E.164/2002, another more ambitious numbering plan was proposed. In this plan the prefix 0 was discarded, and the area codes were defined differently, with 20 to 49 for geographic areas, 50 to 59 reserved, 60-69 for nationwide numbering, 70-79 for mobile services, 80-89 for shared-cost and toll-free numbers, and 90 for premium-rate services. The plan was not implemented because it required too many phone number and prefix changes, with associated high costs.
Changes
After 2002
The area code 01 was replaced with 043
Between 1996 to 2002 (plan 2002)
On 29 March 2002 the Swiss dialing plan changed to a closed dialing plan, i.e. the zone prefix become mandatory also for local calls.
058 - Corporate access
Until 1996 (plan 1996)
The previous plan removed a lot of area prefixes and added the seventh digit in phone numbers yx xx xx became.
Liechtenstein previously used the Swiss telephone numbering plan with the area code 075.. However, on 5 April 1999, it adopted its own international code +423. Consequently, calls from Switzerland now require international dialling, using the 00423 prefix and the seven-digit number.
The Italian municipality Campione d'Italia, an exclave within the Swiss canton of Ticino, uses the Swiss telephone network and is part of the Swiss numbering plan, with local numbers using the +41 91 numbering range, although some Italian numbers are in use by the municipal council, which use the same +39 031 numbering range as the town of Como.
