There is a new area code for the country: 849

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.- The Dominican Republic has a new area code for telephone users. The new area code is 849, recently assigned to the country by the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA).

The new number assigned by NANPA will be put into use later this year, according to information supplied by the director of the Dominican Telecommunications Institute (Indotel), Jose Rafael Vargas, even though he did not specify the date when the new area code would enter into service.

"All of the subsectors of the telecommunications sector are growing and the best demonstration of this is in the telephone sector, since this year we will have to implement a new area code, and as of now Indotel has received from NANPA the new number," said Vargas during a speech during which he also outlined the outside challenges.

The new area code arrives less than four years aver the NPA 829 number was first used in 2005, in addition to the traditional 809. For that same 2005, the country also started using ten digit dialing for both landlines and mobile phones in the Dominican Republic.

Vargas reported that very soon the Indotel will begin an educational campaign to educate the people regarding the 849 area code, which is just a sign of how much telephone service is growing in the country.

As an indication of this growth, Vargas reminded reporters that just eleven years ago telecommunications represented 3.4% of the GDP, and today the figure is reported to be 15.6% with a tendency to continue growing.

He said that in the face of this reality, Indotel has to be ready in order to fulfill the expectations of the market, of the clients and of the country.