Since the introduction of International Direct Dialling, Gibraltar has had its own international area code (350) that is in use for all international telephone traffic to Gibraltar except from Spain. This reflects Spain’s refusal to recognise Gibraltar’s IDD code (even though she recognises our international telex code). Accordingly, when direct dialling telephone links were restored with Spain a temporary arrangement was entered into whereby telephone traffic from Spain would access Gibraltar via the internal Spanish area code for the adjoining Spanish province of Cadiz (956) extended by a further digit (7). Within this 9567 area code, levels 4, 5 or 7 are used to access numbers in Gibraltar from Spain.

Therefore, Gibraltar telephone numbers, in order to be accessed from Spain, can only start with the digits 4, 5 or 7, followed by four digits, as these have not been allocated within the Cadiz province. These levels have a total maximum capacity of only 30,000 numbers. That is to say, there are only 30,000 numbers in Gibraltar that can be accessed from Spain.

Gibraltar has, in practical terms, almost exhausted its supply of telephone numbers and is unable to resolve the problem through its own efforts because the Spanish operator, Telefonica, refuses to recognise Gibraltar’s international area code (350) allocated to Gibraltar by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in the late 1970s.

Gibraltar has an urgent problem with telephone numbering and is asking that the "350" area code be recognised by Spain as it is by every other country in the world.

In order to open our telephone service to competition as required by EU Directives from 1st January 1998, Gibraltar must be able to allocate parts of the numbering plan to competing operators. Spain’s current measures are anti-competitive and discriminatory and will not permit Gibraltar to comply with the EU’s competition requirements. As such Gibraltar’s telephone operators, Gibraltar Telecommunications International (Gibtel) and Gibraltar NYNEX Communications (GNC), filed Article 86 complaints against Telefonica. Gibtel’s complaint is centred on Telefonica’s refusal to grant roaming facilities to Gibtel’s GSM network and GNC’s complaint is based on the limitations imposed on Gibraltar’s telephone numbers by the non-recognition of the "350" IDD code.

Telefonica, who have admitted are acting on instructions from the Spanish Government, is applying discriminatory measures which hamper the competitive growth of Gibraltar’s telecommunications sector.

The scarcity of numbers is an immediate problem. The last 1,000 numbers remaining at a "virgin" level have been allocated to the GSM service to meet the growing demand for this service.

The need for Gibraltar to have to rely on a planning of numbers by Spain for access to the Gibraltar network by subscribers of telephony in Spain is unacceptable for obvious reasons, for example,

(i) Gibraltar has to rely on the goodwill of a third party (in this case Spain) for the development of its telecommunications industry.

(ii) This is contrary to the spirit of the EU and is further contrary to the clear political mandate that the EU has given to the Member States regarding the telecommunications industry particularly in the field of competition.

(iii) The present situation will discourage the setting up in Gibraltar for corporate entities and groups (principally but not solely within the financial services sector) who will wish to be accessed by Spanish markets.

As a possible, temporary solution, representatives of the EU, at a meeting with Gibraltar’s Chief Minister asked him to consider the use of the United Kingdom’s "44" IDD code. This would make Gibraltar part of the UK’s numbering plan.

The operators decided to accept, reluctantly, the proposal, but only for calls from Spain as all other countries already recognise the "350" code. However, the Government of Gibraltar informed the EU that it was not prepared to accept this solution for political reasons and asked the EU to press for full recognition of the "350" code.