From January 1, 2023, the geographical constraints of fixed telephone numbers starting with 01, 02, 03, 04 or 05 will be relaxed, according to a decision by the telecoms regulator (Arcep), allowing you to keep your number in the event of a move. in another area of metropolitan France. This is an Arcep decision of July 2019, which becomes effective.
Until December 31, 2022, each geographic number beginning with 01, 02, 03, 04 or 05 is associated with one of the five large areas segmenting the metropolitan territory, themselves subdivided into 412 smaller areas, called numbering area elementary (ZNE). The end user must then necessarily use a number corresponding to this ZNE.
From January 1, 2023, a resident of Lyon, whose landline number begins with 04 and who moves to Rennes, will be able to keep his landline number. A new fixed subscriber living in Rennes can also ask his operator, if he wishes, that his number does not start with 02, explains Arcep in an explanatory note.
Technological evolution, practical need
“Landline numbers overseas remain specific to each territory and any subscriber can move within his territory while keeping his number. On the other hand, it is still not possible to keep your landline number by moving to another overseas territory or to mainland France”, adds the Telecoms Regulatory Authority.
Why such a change ? At the technological level, this development was made possible by “the generalization” of communications via the Internet (or voice over IP) for fixed telephony calls, “which lifted the geographical constraints that existed before”, explains Arcep.
Above all, it responds to a “practical need” for individuals and an economic challenge for businesses, she adds. “A move of a few kilometers to a neighboring town located in a different ZNE was enough for a company to be faced with the loss of its landline number,” she explains.