Telephone numbers in Uruguay

Telephone numbers in Uruguay
Location
Country	Uruguay
Continent	South America
Regulator	URSEC
Type	Closed
NSN length	8
Access codes
Country code	+598
International access	00

Telephone numbers in Uruguay use the calling code +598. In 2010, national long distance calling was eliminated, and area codes were dropped.

ANTEL (Spanish abbreviation for National Administration of Telecommunications) is Uruguay's state-owned company for telecommunications.

History

Original phone numbers had between 4 and 7 digits. To make a local phone call, those digits were all that were necessary. To make a call between two cities from different departments, required dialing zero, an area code, and the local number.

On August 29, 2010, all phone numbers were changed 8 digits, according to the National Numbering Plan. Area codes were eliminated. This plan was implemented by URSEC (Spanish abbreviation for Regulator Unit of Services of Communications).

National Numbering Plan

Montevideo metropolitan area

In the metropolitan area, national numbers begin with 2. This 8-digit number consists of the former area code (2), followed by the old 7-digit number.

Examples

Area code	Former number	Current number
2	204 5199	2204 5199
2	628 8327	2628 8327
2	908 1350	2908 1350

Outside Montevideo

In the rest of the country, national numbers begin with 4. This 8-digit number consists of the number 4, followed by the former area code, followed by the old phone number. For example:

Colonia

Former area code	Former number	Current number
52	24999	4522 4999

The department of Maldonado is an exception: the 8-digit number consists of the former area code 42, followed by the old phone number, with no additional digit 4 set before:

San Carlos (Maldonado Department)

Former area code	Former number	Current number
42	668350	4266 8350

International calling

For calls from outside the country into Uruguay, the country code (+598) is prefixed to the 8-digit national number, while replacing the "+" with the international calling prefix used in the originating country.

Examples

Call to Montevideo

Current number	Dialed from outside Uruguay
2204 5199	+598 2204 5199

Call to Colonia

Current number	Dialed from outside Uruguay
4522 4999	+598 4522 4999

Former area codes and corresponding new telephone numbers

City	Former area code	Current number
Canelones, Canelones	33	433x xxxx
Maldonado, Maldonado	42	42xx xxxx
Rocha, Rocha	47	447x xxxx
Treinta y Tres, Treinta y Tres	45	445x xxxx
Melo, Cerro Largo	64	464x xxxx
Rivera, Rivera	62	462x xxxx
Artigas, Artigas	77	477x xxxx
Salto, Salto	73	473x xxxx
Paysandú, Paysandú	72	472x xxxx
Fray Bentos, Río Negro	56	456x xxxx
Mercedes, Soriano	53	453x xxxx
Colonia del Sacramento, Colonia	52	452x xxxx
San José de Mayo, San José	34	434x xxxx
Trinidad, Flores	364	4364 xxxx
Florida, Florida	35	435x xxxx
Minas, Lavalleja	44	444x xxxx
Durazno, Durazno	36	436x xxxx
Tacuarembó, Tacuarembó	63	463x xxxx
Montevideo, Montevideo	none	2xxx xxxx

Mobile telephony

When mobile telephony arrived in Uruguay, Movicom BellSouth was the only service provider. Mobile phone numbers began with digits 09, followed by 6 digits: 09xxxxxx.

In 1994, ANTEL started its own mobile phone service, creating Ancel, which later merged into Antel. This created a numbering change for mobile telephony. One number was assigned to each company to identify their numbers. This digit varied between 09 and the number. Movicom was assigned to 4, and Ancel to 9. Movicom numbers changed to 094xxxxxx, and new Ancel numbers became 099xxxxxx.

In 2003, Claro came to Uruguay (originally as CTI Móvil). Numbers of this company were prefixed by 096: 096xxxxxx.

In 2004, Telefónica bought Movicom Bellsouth and changed its name to Movistar.

When the companies reached one million users, they had to be assigned other prefixes.

Antel (ADMINISTRACIÓN NACIONAL DE TELECOMUNICACIONES): 099, 098, 092 and 091.
Movistar (TELEFONICA MOVILES DE URUGUAY S.A.): 094, 095 and 093.
Claro (AM WIRELESS URUGUAY S.A.): 096 and 097.

URSEC has reserved 084, 089 and 086 for a possible future use.

From abroad

When calling a cell phone in Uruguay from abroad, you only need to add the country code (598) to the 9-digit cell phone number, without the zero.


Network	Current number	Dialing from abroad
Movistar	095 xxx xxx	+598 95 xxx xxx
Antel	099 xxx xxx	+598 99 xxx xxx
Claro	096 xxx xxx	+598 96 xxx xxx

Since the implementation of number portability in Uruguay, the initial digits of a number do not necessarily indicate the company to which it belongs. Example: the number 094 111 111 may have been initially assigned by the company Movistar, but then the user may have switched to the telephone service provided by another company (Antel or Claro), keeping the same number.