Paris, 21 October 1997
The French Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ART) has chosen the département, as the local call area.*
The département is an administrative division of France, familiar to all French people. ART has therefore decided that the simplest and easiest way for subscribers to identify the local call area is to equate it with the département.
It is necessary to define the local call area so that the distinction can be drawn between local calls and long distance / international calls. This is essential for implementing carrier selection which, from 1st January 1998, will enable subscribers to choose their operator for long distance and international calls.
* The local call area is defined for the purposes of carrier selection and not pricing. Consequently, the local tariff does not necessarily apply to calls within this area.
tel : 33 1 40 47 70 33 - fax : 33 1 40 47 71 98
email : Jean-Francois.Hernandez@art-telecom.fr