Area Code 24 – Ainaro

Overview of Timor-Leste's Geographic Numbering Plan

Timor-Leste, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is assigned the international country calling code +670 by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) under the E.164 standard. The national numbering plan is administered by the Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANC), the country's telecommunications regulatory authority. Within this plan, geographic area codes are allocated to specific administrative districts, enabling fixed-line telephone services to be routed based on the caller's physical location. These codes are essential for both domestic and international call routing.

Geographic Significance of Area Code 24

The area code 24 is designated for the municipality of Ainaro, located in the southern-central part of Timor-Leste. Ainaro is one of the country's 13 municipalities and is known for its mountainous terrain and coffee production. The code covers the administrative capital, also named Ainaro, as well as surrounding sucos (villages) within the municipality. Fixed-line subscribers in this region are assigned numbers that begin with the prefix 24, followed by a subscriber number of variable length.

Dialing Formats and Number Structure

In the national numbering plan, geographic numbers in Timor-Leste have a total length of 8 digits when dialed domestically, including the leading trunk prefix '0'. Therefore, a fixed-line number in Ainaro would be formatted as 0 24 XXXX for local calls. When dialing from abroad, the trunk prefix '0' is omitted, and the number is dialed as +670 24 XXXX. For example, a local call to a subscriber in Ainaro would be dialed as 024 1234, while an international caller would dial +670 24 1234. It is important to note that Timor-Leste does not use a separate trunk prefix for domestic long-distance calls; callers within the country simply dial the 8-digit national number, including the area code.

Caller Instructions

• Local callers (within Timor-Leste): Dial the full national number: 024 XXXX.
• International callers: Dial the international access prefix (e.g., 00 or +), then the country code 670, followed by the area code without the leading '0', and the subscriber number: +670 24 XXXX.

Overlay and Numbering Considerations

As of the current numbering plan, there are no overlay codes in Timor-Leste; each geographic area has a unique area code. However, the country has experienced significant growth in mobile telephony, and fixed-line penetration remains low. The geographic code 24 is exclusively for fixed-line services, and mobile numbers are identified by their own prefixes (e.g., 77, 78, etc.). When calling a fixed-line number in Ainaro from a mobile phone, the same dialing rules apply. It is also important to note that Timor-Leste is part of the +670 country code, which was previously shared with Indonesia but has been exclusively used by Timor-Leste since 1999.