Degeography for fixed telephone numbers will come into force on January 1, 2023

From January 1, 2023, a resident of Lyon whose fixed telephone number begins with 04 and who moves to Rennes can keep his fixed telephone number.

MO12345lemonde with AFP

No more geographic constraints of fixed telephone numbers. From the 1 ^{er January 2023, customers of telephone operators will be able to keep their fixed telephone number (starting with 01, 02, 03, 04 or 05) in the event of a move in another area of Metropolitan France. This is the entry into force of a decision of the telecoms regulator, the arcep, from July 2019 .}

Until December 31, 2022, each geographic number starting with 01, 02, 03, 04 or 05 is associated with one of the five large areas segmenting the metropolitan territory, themselves subdivided into 412 smaller zones, called Elementary numbering zone (ZNE). The end user must then necessarily use a number corresponding to this ZNE.

From the 1 ^er January 2023, a resident of Lyon whose fixed telephone number begins with 04 and who moves to Rennes can keep his fixed telephone number. A new fixed subscriber living in Rennes will also be able to ask his operator, if he wishes, that his number does not start with 02, Explain the arcep in an explanatory note . p>

generalization of VoIP

“Fixed numbers overseas remain specific to each territory and any subscriber can move within its territory while retaining its number. On the other hand, it is still not possible to keep your fixed number by moving to a Another ultramarin or metropolitan area, “completes the telecoms regulatory authority.

Why such a change? At the technological level, this evolution was made possible by “the generalization” of communications by Internet (or voice on IP or VoIP) for fixed telephony calls, “which raised geographic constraints that existed before”, explains the Arcep .

It responds above all to a “practical need” for individuals and an economic issue for businesses, she adds. “A move for a few kilometers, in a neighboring town located in a different ZNE, was enough for a company to face the loss of its fixed telephone number,” she explains.