I just got an iNum

Apparently, I could have gotten one with Gizmo5 back when I signed up with them, but I didn't know. Oh well, it's still neat!

inum-betaThe number starts, as expected, with 883, followed by 1 and a bunch of zeroes. The last seven digits spell I-FIB-BOB (or I-FIB-ANA), if you consider 1 to be I. Alright, it’s not that easy to remember, but it’s not bad for a number that’s completely free and portable, being untied to any particular country. Such numbers are HD-enabled and SMS-reachable from the following carriers:

  • Canada: Bell Mobility, Fido, Rogers, WIND
  • UK: Orange, Vodafone
  • USA: T-Mobile

access numbers

Though a great idea, the numbers are not reachable from all the carriers yet. Fortunately, there are local access numbers in 45 countries, meaning that these numbers can be accessed at the cost of a local call.

Country City Access Number
Argentina Buenos Aires +54 1159839500
Australia Sydney +61 280148200
Austria   +43 720880500
Bahrain   +973 16199200
Belgium Brussels +32 28081771
Brazil Rio De Janeiro +55 2135219966
Brazil Sao Paulo +55 1137119355
Bulgaria Sofia +359 24917555
Canada Calgary (403) 775-1446
Canada Edmonton (780) 669-9257
Canada Halifax (902) 982-6937
Canada London (519) 488-9336
Canada Montreal (514) 907-7500
Canada Ottawa (613) 686-4519
Canada Quebec City (418) 8000384
Canada Toronto (416) 800-4303
Canada Toronto (647) 724-8777
Canada Vancouver (778) 786-3497
Canada Winnipeg (204) 272-8182
Chile Santiago +56 25813444
Croatia Zagreb +385 17776363
Cyprus Nicosia +357 22030500
Czech Republic Prague +420 246019777
Denmark   +45 69918686
El Salvador   +503 21131899
Estonia   +372 6681881
Finland Helsinki +358 942419200
France Paris +33 170619800
Georgia Tbilisi +995 32473846
Greece Athens +30 2111768444
Hong Kong Hong Kong +85258080177
Hungary Budapest +36 19980500
Ireland Dublin +353 15262600
Israel Tel Aviv +972 37219555
Italy Rome +39 0662207777
Japan Tokyo +81 345209777
Latvia   +371 67652500
Luxembourg   +352 20880108
Malta   +35627780107
Mexico Guadalajara +52 3346242977
Mexico Mexico City +52 5511678222
Netherlands Amsterdam +31 208080808
New Zealand Auckland +64 99250499
Norway Oslo +47 21031306
Panama   +507 8322488
Peru Lima +51 17085500
Poland Warsaw +48 223982688
Puerto Rico Bayamon Norte (787) 395-7140
Romania   +40 318103500
Singapore   +65 31581212
Slovakia Bratislava +421 233002555
Slovenia Ljubljana +386 16001422
Spain Madrid +34 911883777
Sweden Stockholm +46 852500111
Switzerland Zurich +41 435006262
United Kingdom London +44 2033556363
United States Chicago (312) 253-4880
United States Houston (713) 474-2323
United States Los Angeles (213) 221-3799
United States New York (646) 843-6969
United States Phoenix (602) 354-9444
United States San Diego (619) 330-9640
United States San Francisco (650) 360-0999

history and related

A few years ago, the International Telecommunication Union created two country codes (882 and 883) to “serve as a catch-all for telephone services not dedicated to a single country”. These are not the only such “pseudo-country-codes”; here’s a few more similarly “exotic” codes:

  • Global Mobile Satellite System (GMSS) – +881
  • Inmarsat – +870 SNAC, +871 Atlantic E, +872 Pacific, +873 Indian, +874 Atlantic W
  • European Telephony Number Space (ETNS) – +388
  • International Freephone Service (UIFN) - +800
  • International Premium Rate Service (IPRS) - +979
  • International Shared Cost Service (ISCS) - +808
  • International Telecommunications Public Correspondence Service (ITPCS) - +991
  • Telecommunications for Disaster Relief (TDR) +888
  • Universal Personal Telecommunications (UPT) +878

The Defense Switched Network followed AUTOVON (AUTOmatic VOice Network) and is a “widespread PBX system for military uses”:

  • 312 Continental United States (CONUS)
  • 313 Caribbean, Central America
  • 314 Europe
  • 315 Pacific, Indian Oceans
  • 317 Alaska
  • 318 Southwest Asia
  • 319 Canada

You can find below Voxbone’s president talking about it.

Sources / More info: inum.net, wiki-int-net, wtng-special-services, itu, rebtel-iphone-app

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