Estonian phone numbers generally begin with 5, which is why people who are wary of scams are often suspicious when they receive a call from a number beginning with 8. In reality, however, these numbers are becoming increasingly common among Estonian users in general.
Most mobile numbers in Estonia start with 50-59. Now, however, there is now a need to expand the number range.
Evelin Neerot, head of Telia’s connectivity services department, told ERR that the reason for this is the rapid development of mobile communications and the addition of new types of devices.
“For this reason, eight-digit numbers beginning with 81–84 have also been introduced as standard mobile numbers. These are equivalent to the existing numbers beginning with 50–59,” Neerot said.
According to Neerot, numbers starting with 8 have actually been in use in Estonia for a number of years already. However, they have rarely been used before.
Neerot recalled that numbers starting with 81-82 started being issued in 2008, and numbers starting with 83-84 were added in 2013.
“Telia was the first to use numbers starting with 82 for mobile parking in barrier-controlled parking lots in 2010. We started issuing numbers beginning with 81-82 to our first mobile customers in 2012, but these have been rather isolated cases, not huge amounts,” Neerot said.
Starting this year, however, Telia has begun issuing more new numbers starting with 81.
However, this year, Telia began issuing a larger amount of numbers with the prefix 81 for new pre-paid calling cards.
Telia currently has approximately 25,000 numbers beginning with 8 in use, most of which, according to Neerot, are pre-paid call cards.
“Since pre-paid calling card starter kits are usually ordered in large quantities at a time, a larger number of mobile numbers is also needed. As the available selection of mobile numbers starting with 5 has decreased, more and more numbers from the so-called new number series are being added,” said Neerot.
The increasing number of scam calls and cases reported in the media, whereby criminals have swindled large sums of money over the phone, have made people increasingly cautious.
As a result, seeing a number starting with 8 appear on their phone screen may cause people to be suspicious.
According to Neerot, however, these numbers are completely normal and there should be no additional cause for concern. She pointed out that numbers beginning with 81-84 are intended for mobile use and numbers beginning with 88 are for landline use.
“Of course, habit is a powerful force, and numbers starting with 8 are unfamiliar to people and may be viewed with greater suspicion. At the same time, the vast majority of fraudulent calls made from abroad have so far been disguised as numbers starting with 5, and according to our data, there are fewer fraudulent calls from numbers starting with 8,” said Neerot.
She added that from the perspective of regular phone users there is no significant difference. Nevertheless, it is still important to be vigilant about scam calls.
Mobile numbers are a limited resource, the use of which is regulated by the national numbering plan and administered in Estonia by the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA).
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