France phone numbering plan changes

The French regulatory authority ARCEP has updated the framework governing the use of numbering resources in France. As of January 2023, the phone numbers previously defined as Geographic numbers, starting with 01, 02, 03, 04, and 05, and National numbers, starting with 09, are now Versatile/Polyvalent numbers. The geographical restrictions attached to numbers starting with 01 to 05 will be aligned with those attached to mobile numbers (starting with 06 or 07) and numbers with the 09 prefix.

Notes:

• This means that customers will be able to keep their 01 to 05 number when moving to any other location in France.
• Your existing services and previously assigned numbers will not be affected by this change.

This article covers:

• What to expect when buying additional phone numbers in France
• What to expect when porting phone numbers in France

What to expect when buying additional phone numbers in France

When buying additional numbers, you will no longer be offered numbers of each of the 400+ previously defined area codes. Instead, you’ll be given the choice of the five main regions:

• 01 - Ile de France
• 02 - North-West
• 03 - North-East
• 04 - South-East
• 05 - South-West

Customers can choose numbers from one of the 5 regions linked to their physical location but are not obliged to do so. These numbers can be used at any location within France so the customer address will no longer need to match the local area code. Any address in France will suffice.

Some customers regard area code location identity highly because they can generate trust in the owner of the number. In order to facilitate this transition Zoom has secured numbering resources that were previously linked to 10 major cities: Paris (01), Nantes (02), Lille (03), Strasbourg (03), Marseille (04), Nice (04), Montpellier (04), Lyon (04) Bordeaux (05) Toulouse (05).

The map below shows a visualization of the five regions mentioned above.

What to expect when porting phone numbers in France

Customers can still port their existing numbers to Zoom but we will no longer require the customer address to match the local area code.

Note: All other number requirements for France remains unchanged.