Telephone numbers in Hong Kong are mostly eight-digit. Fixed land line numbers start with 2 or 3, cellular (mobile) phone numbers with 6 or 9, pager numbers with 7 and forwarding service with 8. There is no area code today in Hong Kong. Cellular redirects here. ... A telephone numbering plan is a system that allows subscribers to make and receive telephone calls across long distances. ...

1970's

In the 1970s, area codes were assigned with the following pattern.

 3 Kowloon and New Kowloon 5 Hong Kong Island 12 New Territories 

Location within China In modern day Hong Kong, Kowloon (九龍; Cantonese IPA:; Jyutping: gau2 lung4; Mandarin Pinyin: Jiǔlóng; lit. ... New Kowloon (Chinese: 新九龍; Cantonese IPA: , Jyutping: san1 gau2 lung4, Mandarin Pinyin: Xīn Jiǔlóng) is an area in Kowloon, Hong Kong, bounded in the south by Boundary Street, and in the north by the ranges of the Lion Rock, Beacon Hill, Tates Cairn and Kowloon Peak. ... The night view of the Island side as seen from the Kowloon side - the opposite side of the Victoria Harbour Hong Kong Island (Traditional Chinese: 香港島; Simplified Chinese: 香港岛; Cantonese Jyutping: hoeng1 gong2 dou2; Mandarin Pinyin: Xiānggǎngdǎo) is the island where the colonial settlement of the Hong Kong territory... A major road, Kwong Fuk Road in Tai Po, a town in the New Territories. ...

1980's

In the mid 1980s, 6-digit numbers started with '0' became 7-digit numbers started with '71' making way for subsequent change of the New Territories prefix from '12' to '0'.

 0xxxxx became 71xxxxx 

Fixed-line phone numbers were either six- or seven-digit in the 1980s. Area codes were assigned with the following pattern.

 3 Kowloon and New Kowloon 5 Hong Kong Island 0 New Territories 

Cellular phone numbers are all eight-digit starting with '9'.

1990's

Early 1990's

In the early 1990s, area codes were abolished. Area codes for six-digit numbers became part of subscriber's numbers. Area codes for seven-digit numbers were simply removed. The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ...

 (3) xx xxxx became 3xx xxxx (5) xx xxxx became 5xx xxxx (3) xxx xxxx became xxx xxxx (5) xxx xxxx became xxx xxxx (0) xxx xxxx became xxx xxxx 

Mid 90's

In the mid 1990s, a '2' was prefixed to all fixed line (land line) numbers which are now eight-digit. A '7' was prefixed to existing pager service numbers. The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ...

 xxx xxxx became 2xxx xxxx 11xx xxx became 711xx xxx 11xx xxxxx became 7xx xxxxx 9xxx xxxx remained unchanged 

Late 90's

Before the introduction of portable fixed line numbers, numbers were assigned in a pattern akin to districts. For example, in additional to the existing 3, 5 and 0 prefixes, a 4 prefix was used for Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, 6 for Tai Po and Sha Tin, and 8 for Island East.

2000s until today

Numbers started with '3' was introduced when '2' for fixed lines was running out. Cell phone numbers remain eight-digit. Numbers '6' started to be used when numbers started with '9' were running out:

 2xxx xxxx fixed lines 3xxx xxxx fixed lines and dialup ISPs 6xxx xxxx cellular phones 7xxx xxxx pager services 8xxx xxxx forwarding services 9xxx xxxx cellular phones 

For example, one can request a SkypeIn number which is usually in the form of 81xx xxxx. Skype (IPA pronunciation: , rhymes with type and hype) is a proprietary peer-to-peer Internet telephony (VoIP) network, founded by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, the creators of KaZaA and competing against established open VoIP protocols like SIP, IAX, or H.323. ...

Making international calls

 YYY (Country Code) (Area code) xxxx xxxx YYY is the access code for an IDD service provider - YYY is not necessarily three digits. 

Calls to Macao, Mainland China and Taiwan are international. The highlighted area in the map is what is commonly known as mainland China. Mainland China (Simplified Chinese: 中国大陆; Traditional Chinese: 中國大陸; Pinyin: Zhōnggúo Dàlù, lit. ...

 Macao YYY 853 xxx xxx Mainland China YYY 86 (Area Code) xxxx xxxx Taiwan YYY 886 (Area Code) xxx xxxx 

Emergency services and other special numbers

Telephone number for emergency services --- Police, Fire Service and Ambulance --- is 999. 999 is the United Kingdoms emergency telephone number along with the EU standard 112. ...

Some special numbers are three- to five-digit. Some premium rate services, for example for games, are 9-digit.

Numbers beginning with 1 are usually reserved for carrier/operator services. These services are provided by the individual telephone carrier. In general, these numbers can be used across all carriers:

• Directory services can be reached at 1081 (English) and 1083 (Cantonese).
• Weather information can be reached at 18501 (English) and 18503 (Cantonese).

See also

• China telephone numbering plan
• Macau telephone numbering plan