Country Code: +7
International Call Prefix: 8~10
Trunk Prefix: 8
Telephone numbers in Russia are under a unified numbering plan with Kazakhstan, both of which share the international code +7. Historically, +7 was used as the country calling code for all of the Soviet Union. Following the Soviet break-up, all of its former republics, save for Russia and Kazakhstan, switched to new country codes. Following Abkhazia's secession from Georgia, Abkhazia switched to the Russian telephone codes +7 840 for landlines and +7 940 for mobile phones, though it still can be reached via the Georgian telephone code +995 44. After the Crimean status referendum, 2014, Crimea has also switched to the Russian telephone codes +7 978 for mobile phones and +7 869 for landlines in Sevastopol and +7 365 for landlines in the rest of its territory since 7 May 2015.
Russia uses a four-level (local, zone, country, international) open dialing plan. Local telecommunications regulators had planned to abandon this system and change to a closed dialing plan at all levels by 2009, but postponed the changeover until 2010, and later pushed once more until 2012. Currently, all national subscriber numbers consist of 10 digits (excluding any prefixes), with 3 digits for an area code and a 7-digit individual number which includes a zone code.
Long distance and international prefixes
The international dialing prefix in Russia is "8~10"â€"callers dial "8", wait for a tone, and then dial "10", followed by the country code, area code, and number. The long distance prefix is "8~". There are plans to change those prefixes to "0" for national and "00" for international dialing, but they are not yet implemented.
Placing long distance and international calls
When making long distance or international calls from a fixed line, a subscriber may choose either of two providers: Pre-Select or Hot-Choice. If a subscriber prefers Pre-Select, he calls a prescribed free number (8-800-333-0990 for MTT or 8-800-100-2525 RT) and signs up initially for service. He may also sign a statement at the phone company indicating his choice of provider. With this provider, the prefixes and dialing procedures for non-local calls are the ones currently in use. The default regulation in Moscow is Hot-Choice (not available yet on all exchanges; regional operators apply their own regulation depending on availability). Available operators are:
- Rostelecom
- Interregional TransitTelekom (MTT)
- Golden Telecom (Sovintel (GT))â€"not active on consumer market
- TransTelekom (TTK)â€"not active on consumer market
- Orangeâ€"not active on consumer market
- Comstarâ€"only active in Moscow
- Arctelâ€"not active on consumer market
- Synterra Mediaâ€"not active on consumer market
The dialing pattern for Hot-Choice subscribers is different. After dialing "8", the subscriber waits for a tone and then dials the operator code (OC) either for a long distance call or an international call.
Dialing pattern
Note: the tone signal after dialing "8" is compulsory on old analog (with pulse mode dialing) exchanges and optional on digital (tone mode dialing) exchanges.
Calls within a city or region
xxx-xx-xx (exception: Moscowâ€"see below), e.g.:
- 3-45-67
- 22-33-44
- 234-56-78
Local phone numbers in Russia may be made up of five (x-xx-xx), six (xx-xx-xx), or seven (xxx-xx-xx) digits.
Moscow City has three area codes assigned: 495, 498 and 499:
- when calling from any zone to 499: 8 499 xxx-xx-xx
- when calling from any zone to 498: 8 498 xxx-xx-xx
- when calling from any zone to 495: 8 495 xxx-xx-xx
Calls between these codes are local calls and are not charged at long distance rates.
Calls between cities/regions within Russia
Pre-Selected Operator: 8-tone-ABC xxx-xx-xx (where ABC is the area code)
- e.g. 8 812 234-56-78 (to St. Petersburg)
Hot-Choice Operator selection: 8-tone-OC ABC xxx-xx-xx (where OC is the Operator Code and ABC is the area code)
- e.g. 8-53 812 234-56-78 (to St. Petersburg via MTT)
International calls from Russia
Pre-Selected Operator: 8-tone-10 International number
- e.g. 8-10 44 20 7946-0123 (to London/UK)
Hot-Choice Operator selection: 8-tone-OC International number where OC is the Operator Code
- e.g. 8-58 44 20 7946-0123 (to London/UK via MTT)
Calls from outside Russia
+7 ABC xxx-xx-xx
where ABC is the area code
Area codes
List of area codes in Russia
The dialing code 495 was introduced on 1 December 2005 to replace 095, in order to make it possible to adopt the ITU convention of 0 and 00 dialing prefixes for local and international dialing respectively. The old '095' dialing code, along with 19 other Russian area codes starting with '0', expired on 31 January 2006.
Toll-free & pay-line codes
Special numbers (emergencies)
In a press conference on December 2013 Minister of Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov said that the unified system runs in a full pilot mode from 2014 and will fully enter to operational mode in 2016.
See also
- Telecommunications in Russia
- Telephone numbers in Kazakhstan
Notes
