Telephone numbers in Singapore

The Singapore telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Numbering Plan, is regulated by the Numbering Management Department of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), taking over the role from the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore upon its formation in December 1999.

Due to the small geographical size of Singapore, there are no area or trunk codes, with the Public Switched Telephone Network, Radio Network and IP Telephony all belonging to one numbering area, and thus comes in the same 8-digit numbering format. Numbers are categorised based on the first digit, thus providing ten possible categories, of which six are currently in use and the remaining four reserved for future usage.

History

Until 1985, subscribers' telephone numbers in Singapore were five and six digits, but in that year, these changed to seven digits as the introduction of new towns arose (Tampines, Jurong East, Bukit Batok, Yishun and Hougang) and a large number of new numbers were required. Rationalisation was based on geographical locale over the 12 years.

In 1995, the digit '9' was added to the front of mobile phone and pager numbers, making numbers eight digits, and on 1 March 2002, the digit '6' was added to the front of existing fixed line telephone numbers.

Telephone exchanges

This is the list of telephone exchanges in Singapore. They also share the telephone exchanges with OpenNet locations, cable TV and '6'-regoed phone lines (each from SingTel and StarHub).

• Ang Mo Kio Telephone Exchange
• Ayer Rajah Telephone Exchange - August 1977
• Bedok Telephone Exchange - 20 February 1973
• Bukit Panjang Telephone Exchange
• Central Telephone Exchange - 14 July 1980
• Changi Telephone Exchange
• Fort Canning Telephone Exchange
• Geylang Telephone Exchange
• Hougang Telephone Exchange
• Jurong Telephone Exchange
• Jurong East Telephone Exchange
• Jurong West Telephone Exchange
• Lavender Telephone Exchange - 13 March 1973
• Pasir Ris Telephone Exchange - 14 October 1991
• Paya Lebar Telephone Exchange - 8 October 1960
• Queenstown Telephone Exchange - 7 July 1957
• Seletar Telephone Exchange
• Tampines Telephone Exchange
• Tanjong Katong Telephone Exchange - 11 July 1957
• Tanjong Pagar Telephone Exchange
• Tuas Telephone Exchange
• Woodlands Telephone Exchange
• Woodlands East Telephone Exchange (Under review due to the new HDB Estates in Woodlands/Sembawang and Yishun).

Satellite stations

• Bukit Timah Satellite Station
• Seletar Satellite Station
• Sentosa Satellite Station

Former telephone exchanges

• Changi (Upper Changi Road)
  Built in October 1958
• City (George Street)
  Built in July 1959
• Clementi (Clementi)
• Lim Chu Kang (Lorong Tukol)
• Nee Soon (Upper Thomson Road)
• Old Central (built in 1917)
• Sembawang
• Tiong Bahru

Numbering plan

Number ranges

3xxx xxxx - Voice-over-IP (VoIP) services

6xxx xxxx - Fixed line services inclusive of fixed line voice-over-IP services (e.g., StarHub Digital Voice and SingTel mio Voice)

8zxx xxxx - Mobile phone services

9yxx xxxx - Mobile phone services (inclusive of pager services until May 2012)

Special service numbers

800 xxx xxxx - Toll-free international services

1800 xxx xxxx - Toll-free line services

1900 xxx xxxx - Premium service

Short codes

0xx - International access code

13xx - Voicemails

1711 (SingTel)/171* (M1) - Speaking clock

1777 - Non-emergency ambulance

16xx - Service providers' customer services

18xx - International calling card access numbers

993 - Ministry of Health's special ambulance service - previously used for suspected cases of H1N1 and SARS

995 - Singapore Civil Defence Force - Fire or Emergency Ambulance

999 - Police

• x denotes 0 to 9
• y denotes 0 to 8 only
• z denotes 1 to 9 only

Calls to Malaysia and Indonesian border towns

Until 1995, calls to Malaysia from Singapore were direct, with only the area code and number being required, hence 03 for Kuala Lumpur instead of +60 3. In 1995, owing to the divergence of the two countries' numbering plans, the Subscriber Trunk Dialling prefix 020 was adopted. For example, in order to call a number in Kuala Lumpur, 020 is dialled first, followed by the area code 3 (excluding the leading zero), then the subscriber number. On the other hand, calling Singapore from Malaysia remains direct as was before 1995, requiring only the code 02 instead of +65.

Similarly, calls to Batam, Samarinda, Pekanbaru and Tanjung Pinang in Indonesia require only the code 011, followed by the area code (minus '0') and the subscriber's number, hence to call a number in Batam from Singapore, a subscriber would dial 011 778 xxx xxx, instead of the international code +62 778. Calls to the rest of Indonesia, including those to mobile phones, require international dialling.

Following the liberalization of the telecommunications industry, new carriers are assigned new carrier-specific codes for international and regional trunk call services. The codes 020 and 011 are assigned to the incumbent carrier SingTel. The other two major carriers, M1 and StarHub, do not offer any special dialling arrangements for calling to Malaysia and Indonesia, instead requiring full international dialling, the same as calling other countries.

International Direct Dialling and VoIP services

The generic international call prefix when making an international call is 000, which all telecommunications service providers are required to share.^[1] However, the code is not well known as carrier-specific access codes are generally used, such as 001 for SingTel, 002 for M1 and 008 for StarHub. On a mobile phone, a plus sign (+) can be keyed in as a substitute for the prefix.

VoIP services, like Zone 1511, use prefixes in the 15xx range. For example, to call a number in London using Zone 1511, a subscriber would dial 1511 44 20 xxxx xxxx. hhAccess codes in the 0xx range (for example, 018 - StarHub's VoIP services or 019 - SingTel's VoIP services) indicate a Tier 1 VoIP provider. Access codes like 1xxx (for example, 1511) are indicative of a Tier 2 VoIP provider.

References