A new and simplified 10-digit telephone dialing system takes effect in Mexico today but the existing system won’t be phased out completely until August 3, 2020.

All telephone prefixes are eliminated under the new system, which was first announced by the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) in the fall of 2017.

That means that dialing the prefix 01 for national long-distance calls or non-geographical numbers (think 01-800 numbers) is no longer required.

Similarly, the prefixes 044 and 045 don’t need to be dialed to make local and long-distance calls, respectively, to a mobile phone from a landline.

To make a long-distance call from abroad to a mobile number in Mexico the prefix 1 is no longer required after the country code.

While all prefixes are eliminated, two or three-digit area codes are added when making local calls to create a uniform 10-digit system.

In Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey, the corresponding two-digit area code is added to make a call within the city, while across the rest of the country, three-digit area codes are added.

An exception to the 10-digit system is the national emergency number, which remains 911.

The IFT had planned to give telephone users just one month to adjust to the new dialing system before eliminating the existing one.

However, the institute announced last month that people will be able to continue to use the numbers to which they are accustomed for a period of one year from today.

Telecommunications analyst Jorge Bravo said that having a one-year period in which both new and old numbers can be used is normal.

However, he warned that the public will need to be reminded about the new dialing system in the lead-up to the definitive elimination of prefixes on August 3, 2020.

Source: El Universal (sp)