Telephone numbers in Hong Kong are mostly eight-digit. Fixed land line numbers start with 2 or 3, mobile (cellular) phone numbers with 4, 5, 6, 7 or 9, pager numbers with 7 and forwarding service with 8[citation needed]. Since the end of 1989, there have been no area codes within Hong Kong.
The telephone number for emergency services – Police, Fire Service and Ambulance – is 999 for all telephone lines. These numbers can also be used for mobile and other users:
992 – fax on fixed line, SMS on mobile phones (for subscribers with disabilities)
Some special numbers are three- to five-digit. Some premium rate services, for example for games and adult contents, are 11-digit. Numbers beginning with '1' are usually reserved for carrier/operator services. These services are provided by the individual telephone carrier. In general, these numbers can be used across all carriers:
Directory services – 1081 (English), 1083 (Cantonese) and 1088 (Mandarin)
Time and temperature information – 18501 (English), 18503 (Cantonese) and 18508 (Mandarin)
The international call prefix varies depending on IDD provider, however 001 works on all phone lines and uses the IDD service provided by the same carrier as the telephone line that 001 call is dialed from. During the years of telephone monopoly, the International call prefix was 106 (through 1980s) and then 001. Calls from Hong Kong to Macau and mainland China are international, and include that regions' country code:
The present structure and format of telephone numbers in Hong Kong according to the Hong Kong Telecom Service Numbering Scheme, is as follows (the first digits of the telephone number are used as follows):[1]
001 – International long-distance voice service access code
002 – International long-distance fax / data service access code
003to009 – International gateway access code
100xxxxto107xxxx – Inquiry / hotline / operator-assisted service
1081 – Directory Services in English
1083 – Directory Services in Cantonese
1088 – Directory Services in Mandarin
109 – Telephone repair
112 – Emergency Calls (Mobile Phones only, redirects to 999)
115to118 – International Routing Network Identification Number
12xxxxx – Inquiry / hotline / operator-assisted service
133 – Enable the Restricted Caller ID feature
1357 – Cancel the "Caller ID Restrictions" feature
14 – Network identification number
15to16 – External telecommunications service access code
There was no standard trunk prefix like '0' – only the area code and phone number were dialed when calling from one area code to another. Thus the Kowloon number xxx-xxx would have been dialed as follows:
xxx-xxx – from within Kowloon
3 xxx-xxx – from Hong Kong Island or New Territories
In the mid-1980s, 6-digit numbers starting with '0' became 7-digit numbers starting with '71', making way for subsequent change of the New Territories prefix from '12' to '0'.
0xxxxx became 71xxxxx
Fixed-line phone numbers were either six- or seven-digit in the 1980s. Area codes were assigned with the following patterns.
3 Kowloon, New Kowloon, Ha Kwai Chung and Sai Kung
5 Hong Kong Island and Outlying Islands
0 New Territories
Cellular phone numbers are all eight-digit starting with '9'.
On 30 December 1989, area codes were abolished.[3] Six-digit numbers in the New Territories were changed to replace the initial 8 with 46, followed by five digits; area codes for six-digit numbers in the other areas became part of subscriber's numbers. Area codes for seven-digit numbers were simply removed. Some six-digit numbers had the first digit changed to two digits to make a seven-digit number.
On January 1, 1995,[4] a '2' was prefixed to all fixed line (land line) numbers which are now eight-digit. A '7' was prefixed to existing pager service numbers.
Before the introduction of portable fixed line numbers, numbers were assigned in a pattern akin to districts. For example, in addition to the existing 3, 5 and 0 prefixes, a 4 prefix was used for Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, 6 for Tai Po and Sha Tin, and 8 for Hong Kong Island.
Numbers starting with '3' were introduced when '2' for fixed lines started running out. Cell phone numbers remain eight-digit. The number '6' started to be used when numbers started with '9' were running out. In May 2008, cellular phone numbers with '5' as the beginning were also introduced.
Due to numerous phone scams spoofing local telephone numbers, calls started from outside Hong Kong using a local number now show the Hong Kong prefix +852 before the phone numbers in Caller ID.[5]
