According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, telephone numbers will change in 59 of Vietnam's 63 cities and provinces. Some cities and provinces will see drastic changes. Da Nang's dialing code will go from 511 to 236, Hai Phong from 31 to 225 and Can Tho from 710 to 292.Only four provinces will maintain their codes, namely: Hoa Binh (218), Ha Giang (219), Vinh Phuc (211) and Phu Tho (210).

Telephone numbers will change in 59 of Vietnam's 63 cities and provinces

“A lack of unified length in area and phone numbers can easily cause dialing errors and make numbers harder to remember” the ministry said in a release.The ministry also decided to cut a digit from cell phone numbers to ensure they are 11 digits, without announcing a specific deadline for the change.The department would work with telecoms companies to hammer out a feasible plan for the changes. Relevant agencies and telcos would announce when exactly it would be implemented two months in advance, that representative said.

Perhaps most shockingly, the country's major telecom firms only learned of the new regulation through the press.

Do Minh Phuong, director of Viettel Telecom, said his company has yet to receive any official notification about the change in area codes.

Tran Anh Dung, owner of a Maritime logistics company, was very surprised to hear about the calling code change.“I have offices in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang and HCMC with hundreds of partners. We will have to update our phone numbers and the numbers of our partners as well. But the most important thing is that our partners abroad, who do not contact us frequently, may find it impossible to get in touch,” he said.

Nguyen Minh Hung of Mai Linh Group said the company supplies transport services in 53 cities and provinces would suffer great damages from the area code change.

Ta Huu Chien, chairman of SunVina Travel JSC, was concerned about the lack of advanced notice: “If the change is truly necessary, there must be technical support like maintaining the current codes for some period while people get accustomed to the changes.”

 Thanh Nien News