gougou Posted November 23, 2005 at 02:01 AM Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 at 02:01 AM I'm a bit confused about the mobile phone numbers in China... I have seen the prefix written as just 13, or 13 plus the next digit. Apparently, there is some meaning to the third digit (I was told only a certain range can receive pictures, or make use of other rather advanced features). As numbers seem to be localized (e.g. the number I have is a Beijing number), could you get this information just by looking at the number? Also, could somebody explain when to add a 0 up front? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted November 23, 2005 at 04:39 AM Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 at 04:39 AM All mobile numbers currently start with 13. The next number I think designates which service you are on. For example 136 is China Mobile's Shenzhouxing. I'm not sure what the others are, or how hard the rules are. However, if there's a particular number for one of the full contract services, then that would tie in with use of advanced stuff like picture messaging, voicemail, and so on - although a lot of this stuff can be used on pay as you go, if you activate it. If you are calling a mobile outside of your city (not sure if that means with a SIM card purchased elsewhere, or just one that is physically outwith the city) you need to dial a 0 first. I don't see why this is necessary, as if you don't dial it it just tells you to redial - why can't it just add it on for you? The extra 0 hardly tells them which city it's in. I have seen a form on China Mobile's site which let you put any mobile number in and it would tell you which city is was from. Can't find it now though. Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevelyan Posted November 23, 2005 at 07:03 AM Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 at 07:03 AM 133 is Unicom's CDMA service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zhwj Posted November 23, 2005 at 09:11 AM Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 at 09:11 AM This page gives a short explanation of the mobile phone prefixes. The number in general is 2-digit country code (86) + 3-digit network prefix + 4-digit identifier (like an exchange) + 4-digit random number. The prefixes are assigned by the Ministry of Information Industry according to the following: 130,131, and 132 are China Unicom GSM numbers, 133 is CDMA like trevelyan says. 132 is a recent addition, so it's not too common yet. 134-139 are China Mobile numbers except for 1349 which is used for China's global satellite phone service. The page also says that 15 and 18 are reserved for mobile phone use as well. 16 is dialup networking, right? I'd imagine it tells you to dial 0, roddy, so that you don't get slapped with long distance charges if you don't so desire. Here's a lookup page; it'll tell you network and location info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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