PHILIPSBURG--Telephone users in St. Maarten will shortly have to grapple with more changes taking place in the local telecommunication industry.
"The change in numbers to seven digits for land lines also affects us," Kathia Magdeleine, Special Projects Coordinator for Eastern Caribbean Cellular (ECC), told The Daily Herald.
The cellular company has been issuing advisories along with subscribers' monthly bills, advising that "effective April 9, 2001, through May 14, 2001, cellular phones will require reprogramming to accommodate the national (seven digits) numbering plan in St. Maarten."
"The minister of telecommunication intends to introduce the seven digits numbering plan for the entire Netherlands Antilles. We haven't received the official notice as yet, but we are preparing our subscribers and reprogramming our equipment so that we are all prepared," Magdeleine said.
She explained that as of May 14, another "5" will be added in front of both ECC's and TelCell's six-digit numbers. "Six-digit numbers will no longer be accessible," she said.
The six-digit numbers were in fact only used in a transition period during which the companies were expected to prepare for the introduction of the national (seven-digit) numbering plan.
"The national numbering plan (with the seven-digit numbers) will not allow six-digit numbers, because this would drastically decrease the capacity of available numbers in St. Maarten," a letter to ECC from the Bureau of Telecommunications in Cura‡ao explained.
Magdeleine said expectations are that the minister will issue his official letter introducing the national numbering plan before May 14. "By then we will be ready," she said.
With this in mind, the company has requested its subscribers to drop in at its E.C. Richardson Street offices to have their phones reprogrammed. The phones will indicate "roam" after the reprogramming, but that will not affect cellular service. Customers with AT&T telephones should have their phones reprogrammed after May 15.
Magdeleine said that while her company is dealing with this development, its subsidiary St. Martin Mobiles on the French side is also in the process of accommodating a change to St. Martin's phone numbers.
"00690 will be added in front of all French cell numbers. They are matching the numbers to the European numbers. As of June 22, everybody calling a French number will have to dial ten digits instead of six," she said.
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