Telephone numbers in Bulgaria are under an open dialing plan, similar to those of Germany and Austria. Area codes are only dialed when necessary (dialing the same area with the area code is billed as if the call was to another area). Area codes are prepended with a trunk code of '0'.
The country calling code for Bulgaria is 359. When calling abroad from Bulgaria, the international call prefix is 00.
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Fixed line numbers
Area codes vary in length, from 1 to 5 digits. Subscriber number lengths vary accordingly, from 7 digits down to 3 digits; the length of the full national number is limited to 8 digits. Sofia digital numbers are with 7D, analog are with 6D, in Plovdiv, Varna and Ruse both analog and digital are with 6D number, most of other province capitals are with 5D analog and 6D digital numbers.
For a very long time, the state-owned Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) had been holding a monopoly on fixed telephone networks. However, it ended when a special law was adopted, BTC was privatized in 2004 and competing operators appeared.
Larger areas, such as Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, are subdivided to zones. Although one cannot further reduce the number of dialed digits, the number itself shows which zone it is located in. For example, in Sofia, numbers starting with 2, 82, 92 are located in the Western suburbs, with 7, 87, 97 in the Eastern suburbs, with 98 in the central area, etc.
In the recent decade there is an intensive process of replacing the old analog switchers with modern digital ones. In areas where both analog and digital switchers are operating, a subscriber number shows by its first digit if it is connected to an analog or a digital switch. In some areas it is even possible to guess if a subscriber number was changed from analog to digital during its existence or was subscribed as digital initially. For example, in Blagoevgrad a number starting with 88 was subscribed as digital, and a number starting with a single 8 was analog before.
The first digit also shows if a particular subscriber number is operated by BTC or another operator.
The area codes are always cited with the trunk code. However, within the area, or when the Sofia code of 02 can be guessed from the context, it is omitted.
Mobile numbers
Until 20 July 2003 GSM mobile networks used 6D subscriber numbers in accordance with the limit of 8 digits for a full number. With the increase of subscribers (and an international requirement), all (except Vivatel, which started operations in 2006) acquired new access codes. On 20 July 2003, Mobiltel used three codes (087, 088, 089) and Globul used two (098 and 099). When these limits were also to be overwhelmed, 7-digit subscriber numbers and single access codes per operator were introduced. Mobikom had gone through a similar change in mid-90's (from 0799+5D to 048+6D).
This change provokes an error in citing mobile numbers, quite similar to that of Erroneous UK telephone codes. The first digit of the subscriber number is most often cited as part of the access code, e.g. 0887 XXXXXX, instead of the correct 088 7XXXXXX. This error remains for new subscriber numbers and even for Vivatel numbers which have never been 6D. However, unlike the situation in UK, this error has no impact since a mobile number must always be dialled with the access code.
Dialing to a mobile network requires the access code together with the '0'. Dialing from a mobile network requires either an area or access code with the trunk, or international format (0YYYXXXXXX or +359YYYXXXXXX). The latter becomes a normal practice, since most people use the phone book of their headsets, more people use their phones in roaming and all four operators show the caller ID in international format.
Area codes
017x Paging services (6D, not active: 0177: Link Paging, 0178: Varna Page, 0179: Mobipage) 02 Sofia 030x, 030xx and 030xxx Smolyan Province codes (0301: Smolyan, 0309: Pamporovo) 031x, 031xx and 031xxx Plovdiv Province codes 032 Plovdiv 033x and 033xx Plovdiv Province codes (0331: Asenovgrad) 034 Pazardzhik 035x, 035xx and 035xxx Pazardzhik Province codes (0350: Peshtera, 0359: Velingrad) 036x, 036xx and 036xxx Kardzhali Province codes (0351: Kardzhali) 037x, 037xx and 037xxx Haskovo Province codes (0373: Harmanli, 0379: Svilengrad) 038 Haskovo 039x and 039xx Haskovo Province codes (0391: Dimitrovgrad) 041x, 041xx and 041xxx Stara Zagora Province codes (0316: Chirpan) 042 Stara Zagora 0430 Tetra mobile network 043x, 043xx and 043xxx Stara Zagora Province codes (0431: Kazanlak) 044 Silven 045x and 045xx Sliven Province codes (0453: Kotel, 0457: Nova Zagora) 046 Yambol 047x, 047xx and 047xxx Yambol and Haskovo Provinces codes (0470: Topolovgrad, 0478: Elhovo) 048 NMT mobile network Mobikom (6D) 051x, 051xx and 051xxx Varna Province codes (0518: Provadiya, 0519: Devnya) 052 Varna 053x, 053xx and 053xxx Shumen Province codes (0537: Novi Pazar, 0538: Veliki Preslav) 054 Shumen 055x, 055xx and 055xxx Burgas Province codes (0550: South coast zone 1, 0554: Nesebar) 056 Burgas 057x, 057xx and 057xxx Dobrich Province codes (0570: Kavarna, 0579: Balchik) 058 Dobrich 059x, 059xx and 059xxx Burgas Province codes (0590: South coast zone 2, 0596: Pomorie) 060x, 060xx and 060xxx Targovishte Province codes (0601: Targovishte, 0608: Popovo) 061x, 061xx and 061xxx Veliko Tarnovo Province codes (0610: Pavlikeni, 0618 Gorna Oryahovitza) 062 Veliko Tarnovo 063x, 063xx and 063xxx Veliko Tarnovo and Pleven Provinces codes (0631: Svishtov) 064 Pleven 065x, 065xx and 065xxx Pleven Province codes (0650: Levski, 0658: Belene) 066 Gabrovo 067x, 067xx and 067xxx Gabrovo and Lovech Provinces codes (0670: Troyan, 0675: Sevlievo) 068 Lovech 069x, 069xx and 069xxx Lovech Province codes (0697: Lukovit) 070x and 070xx Kyustendil Province codes (0701: Dupnitsa) 071xx and 071xxx Sofia Province codes 072x Sofia Province codes (0720: Etropole, 0721: Kostinbrod, 0722: Samokov) 073 Blagoevgrad 074x, 074xx and 074xxx Blagoevgrad Province codes (0745: Petrich, 0749: Bansko) 075x, 075xx and 075xxx Blagoevgrad and Sofia Provinces codes (0750: Borovets, 0751: Gotse Delchev) 076 Pernik 077x, 077xx and 077xxx Pernik Province codes (0777: Radomir) 078 Kyustendil 079xx Kyustendil Province codes 0800 Toll free numbers (5D) 081x, 081xx and 081xxx Ruse Province codes (0817: Byala) 082 Ruse 083x, 083xx and 083xxx Razgrad Province codes (0838: Kubrat) 084 Razgrad 085x, 085xx and 085xxx Silistra Province codes (0855: Dulovo, 0857: Tutrakan) 086 Silistra 087 GSM/UMTS mobile network Vivatel (7D) 088 GSM/UMTS mobile network MTel (7D) 089 GSM/UMTS mobile network Globul (7D) 0900 Value added services (5D) 091x, 091xx and 091xxx Vratsa Province codes (0910: Mezdra, 0915: Byala Slatina) 092 Vratsa 093x, 093xx and 093xxx Vidin Province codes (0936: Belogradchik, 0938: Kula) 094 Vidin 095x, 095xx and 095xxx Montana Province codes (0953: Berkovitsa) 096 Montana 097x, 095xx and 095xxx Vratsa Province codes (0971: Lom, 0973: Kozloduy) 098 MVNOs on GSM/UMTS mobile network MTel (7D) 0999 MAX Telecom (WiMAX network)
Short codes
112 general emergency call 120 wake up call 121 operator for long-distance calls within Bulgaria 123 operator for international calls 124 operator for international calls 125 operator for international calls 130 phone lines problems 143 emergency road service & road assistance 144 telephone information service 146 emergency road service & road assistance 147 area codes within Bulgaria 148 area codes within Bulgaria 149 area codes within Bulgaria 150 medical emergency 152 BTC local calls rates 153 BTC long-distance within Bulgaria calls rates 154 BTC international calls rates 157 BTC international calls rates 159 cultural events guide 160 fire 164 shipping information (in Bourgas and Varna) 165 traffic police 166 police 167 horoscope 168 National Radio schedule 169 horoscope 170 BTC assistance 171 theater schedule (by city) 172 currency exchange rates 173 tales for kids 174 trains time-table (by city) 175 weather forecast 176 BTC information 177 tales for kids 178 pharmacy information 179 currency exchange rates 180 time service 181 TV programs 182 tramp shipping information (in Bourgas and Varna) 183 ocean shipping information (in Bourgas and Varna) 184 tanker shipping information (in Bourgas and Varna) 185 line shipping information (in Bourgas and Varna) 186 BTC digital services information 187 send a telegram 188 TV programs 190 BTC rates guide 191 cinema schedule (by city) 192 TV programs 193 TV programs 194 TV programs 195 sport news 196 sport lottery results 197 international dialing codes 198 BTC terms of payment 199 automatic telephone information guide
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