The Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) announced yesterday that it will follow instruction from the Ministry of Information and Communications to converse all of its 11-digit mobile phone numbers to 10-digit ones in September 15.

After a piloting process of mobile phone number change in the middle of August, VNPT officially begins its 5-phase conversion for its 5 prefixes from September 15 to September 25. Accordingly, the prefix 0124 will be changed to 084, 0127 to 081, 0129 to 082, 0123 to 083, and 0125 to 085.

To guarantee a smooth conversion and minimize potential negative impacts on phone users, VNPT has nearly completed all preparation tasks.

It has formed a steering committee since this June and requested its technical units to carefully categorize all concerned prefixes. This is to ensure a precise conversion and to avoid mistake at all cost so that phone subscribers will not feel inconvenient.

Until now, the conversion project has been successfully improved.

VNPT has also finished the task of declaring new prefixes to technical systems, including the core network, the information technology system, the management system for commerce and manufacturing, the value added service (VAS), and the land-line phone system.

All applications to cross-check and receive payment, calculate charges, print bills, or take care of customers are adjusted accordingly.

After the piloting time in August, VNPT will re-evaluate the status of the conversion in order to ensure subscribers using new prefixes are able to make calls or send messages smoothly from September 15.

Besides developing an application to automatically change smartphone number prefixes for customers, VNPT has already finished a conversion tool as well as a solution for land-line numbers as well and is promoting a piloting phase with its domestic counterparts.

At the moment, it has successfully tested phone numbers with new prefixes of 8x calling to other networks like Viettel, MobiFone, Gtel, VTC, FPT, CMC, HTC, the military and police network, the Authority of Central Post and Communications.

The only network left to be piloted after August 14 is Vietnamobile.

VNPT is on its way to build more service tests to make sure it can tackle all potential problems arisen when the official conversion is in effect in September.

All notices about this major smartphone number conversion have been sent by VNPT to foreign partners to ensure a smooth international communication.

Mobile phone subscribers of VNPT will be announced about this change, and can make phone calls using both the old and new numbers in 60 days from the conversion time.

In 90 days from this time, VNPT continues to deliver bilingual notice in Vietnamese and English to instruct subscribers to use the new system.

SGGP