Telephone numbers in Uruguay

Telephone numbers in Uruguay use the calling code +598. In 2010, national long distance calling was eliminated, and area codes were dropped.

ANTEL (Spanish abbreviation for National Administration of Telecommunications) is Uruguay's state-owned company for telecommunications.

History
Original phone numbers had between 4 and 7 digits. To make a local phone call, those digits were all that were necessary. To make a call between two cities from different departments, required dialing zero, an area code, and the local number.

On August 29, 2010, all phone numbers were changed 8 digits, according to the National Numbering Plan. Area codes were eliminated. This plan was implemented by URSEC (Spanish abbreviation for Regulator Unit of Services of Communications).

Montevideo metropolitan area
In the metropolitan area, national numbers begin with 2. This 8-digit number consists of the former area code (2), followed by the old 7-digit number.

Examples

Outside Montevideo
In the rest of the country, national numbers begin with 4. This 8-digit number consists of the number 4, followed by the former area code, followed by the old phone number. For example:

Colonia

The department of Maldonado is an exception: the 8-digit number consists of the former area code 42, followed by the old phone number, with no additional digit 4 set before:

San Carlos (Maldonado Department)

International calling
For calls from outside the country into Uruguay, the country code (+598) is prefixed to the 8-digit national number, while replacing the "+" with the international calling prefix used in the originating country.

Mobile telephony
When mobile telephony arrived in Uruguay, Movicom BellSouth was the only service provider. Mobile phone numbers began with digits 09, followed by 6 digits: 09xxxxxx.

In 1994, ANTEL started its own mobile phone service, creating Ancel, which later merged into Antel. This created a numbering change for mobile telephony. One number was assigned to each company to identify their numbers. This digit varied between 09 and the number. Movicom was assigned to 4, and Ancel to 9. Movicom numbers changed to 094xxxxxx, and new Ancel numbers became 099xxxxxx.

In 2003, Claro came to Uruguay (originally as CTI Móvil). Numbers of this company were prefixed by 096: 096xxxxxx.

In 2004, Telefónica bought Movicom Bellsouth and changed its name to Movistar.

When the companies reached one million users, they had to be assigned other prefixes.
 * Antel (ADMINISTRACIÓN NACIONAL DE TELECOMUNICACIONES): 099, 098, 092 and 091.
 * Movistar (TELEFONICA MOVILES DE URUGUAY S.A.): 094, 095 and 093.
 * Claro (AM WIRELESS URUGUAY S.A.): 096 and 097.

URSEC has reserved 084, 089 and 086 for a possible future use.

From abroad
When calling a cell phone in Uruguay from abroad, you only need to add the country code (598) to the 9-digit cell phone number, without the zero.

Since the implementation of number portability in Uruguay, the initial digits of a number do not necessarily indicate the company to which it belongs. Example: the number 094 111 111 may have been initially assigned by the company Movistar, but then the user may have switched to the telephone service provided by another company (Antel or Claro), keeping the same number.