Globe Telecom to switch to eight-digit landline numbers in March 2019

Filipino telco Globe Telecom has announced it will look to migrate to an eight-digit numbering system for fixed line numbers from March 2019. The move is in response to a directive from the independent regulator the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), specifically Memorandum Order No. 10-10-2017 that requires telcos to migrate all customers with an ‘02’ seven-digit area code to eight digits to meet pent up demand for landlines – particularly in major cities. In a statement, Globe Telecom confirmed that ‘an additional public telecommunications entity (PTE) identifier for telecom operators was assigned as an additional prefix’. Globe customers may experience a period of down time during the migration period on 18 March 2019, it said.