Telcos test eight to nine-digit system switch

In a statement by the Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (TRA)it announced tests for the switch of the telephone numbering from eight to nine digits, from November 14, 2014.

The operation took place between 23h and 3h in the morning nationwide. This test was to ensure the success of calls made between operators, each with its new call prefix. 6 for the three mobile operator , the replacement of 33,243 in the early numbers of the incumbent Cameroon Telecommunications (Camtel).

Following these initial tests, Jean Louis Beh Mengue, the CEO of telecom regulator, pleaded to telecom subscribers to bear with them on this situation "as it would cause some disruption in their networks." It therefore called on consumers to bear with them in this period of testing.

The actual switching of the eight-digit telephone dialing to nine digits in Cameroon will however take place on November 21, 2014. Jean Pierre Biyiti bi Essam, the Cameroonian Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, at the presentation of the project on September 24 , explained that this change in national telephone numbering would address the problem of saturation of mobile numbers that has been a major concern since 2012 .