In Côte d’Ivoire, a country of 25 million inhabitants, the numbering system has reached saturation point. The authorities have therefore provided for the automatic passage of telephone numbers. These drop from eight to ten digits on January 31st.
Fifty million telephone numbers, mobile and landline, are affected by this technical operation. The plan was presented to the press by Bilé Diéméléou Gabriel, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Côte d’Ivoire (ARTCI). According to him, the process would ensure a sufficient number of numbers for the next 50 years.
On January 31st at midnight, depending on your carrier, you will need to add a prefix to find out your new number. Thus, the orange numbers will precede “07”; “05” for the MTN tracks and “01” for Moovs.
For fixed telephone numbers, the new system requires the addition of the digit “27” before Orange numbers, “25” before the old MTNet number “21” for Moov numbers. Switching to the new numbers takes place automatically.
The only puzzle for the users is their repertoire. In fact, it will be necessary to go through the long list of contacts to make the necessary changes, while it is not always easy to know which number corresponds to which operator. To get by, ARTCI has published a guide that can be consulted online.
For WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram or Signal messengers, it is also necessary to change the phone number in the configuration of the application. A time consuming but mandatory operation to continue to enjoy the service.
