New dialling code for Riyadh

Callers to fixed lines in the Saudi capital Riyadh will have to add the number '1' before the existing dialing code from Monday as part of plans to expand the telephone network in the Gulf kingdom to 10 digits, newspapers reported.

The new code will be enforced at 3pm Saudi time (4 pm UAE time) and callers from inside and outside the capital will be required to start the code with 011 instead of 01, they said, quoting officials at the Saudi Telecommunications and Information Technology Authority (TITA), which oversees the Kingdom’s telecom sector.

“The new code will be for all callers from inside and outside the Kingdom whether they are calling from fixed or mobile phones,” Sabq daily said, quoting Sultan Al Malik, information and public relations director at TITA.

He said callers will be able to hear a message telling them the dialing code has been changed, adding that the codes of some other Saudi regions will be changed this month. “Codes for all regions in the country will be changed by August.”

Officials said the new system is in line with what they described as the close link between the spread of telecommunication services and the need for more telephone numbers. They said the project coincides with the ongoing revolution in this sector in the world in general and in Saudi Arabia in particular.

Sabq said the dialing code for the western town of Makkah would be changed from '02' to '012' while the codes for the other areas would be '013' instead of '03' for the eastern region close to the UAE and other Gulf countries, '017' instead of '07' for the southern region near Yemen and '016' instead of '06' for the central region.