The Gambia has officially entered a new era in telecommunications, with mobile phone numbers moving from seven digits to nine digits from midnight on Friday.

The long-awaited national numbering migration went live at 00:00 on 4 September, adding two-digit operator prefixes to eligible mobile numbers while retaining subscribers’ existing seven digits.

The transition is being coordinated by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), in collaboration with Africell, QCell and Comium, with technical support from Huawei.

Speaking shortly before the switch from PURA’s dedicated situation room, Director General Dr Njogou L. Bah said the migration would be monitored continuously throughout the night.

“The migration to nine-digit mobile numbers goes live at midnight,” Dr Bah said.

He said the situation room would serve as the central command and coordination point for the operation, with PURA staff and technicians monitoring the performance of all three participating mobile network operators.

The monitoring includes calls, SMS and mobile-money services, while banks and fintech companies can also raise any problems encountered during the transition.

“We will be here till the morning to ensure that all is well, all goes well,” Dr Bah said.
He described the migration as “a great moment for The Gambia”, saying he hoped everything would proceed according to plan.

But as the country wakes up to the new numbering system, the practical impact of the change is already becoming a major talking point among phone users.
One of the biggest concerns is the need to update saved contacts.

For people with hundreds of contacts stored on their phones, manually adding the new prefixes could become a tedious exercise.

Online tools have emerged specifically to help users convert old seven-digit Gambian mobile numbers into the new nine-digit format.

The new prefixes are 87 for Africell, 83 for QCell and 86 for Comium. Gamcel and Gamtel numbers are not affected by this particular migration.

For example, an eligible seven-digit Africell number will now be preceded by 87, while QCell numbers will receive 83 and Comium numbers 86.

The change does not require subscribers to replace their SIM cards or mobile phones.
There is also a transition period during which the old and new formats can coexist.

The current arrangement is scheduled to run until 30 November, giving users and institutions time to update their contact lists and systems.

That period could prove particularly important for businesses, banks, government institutions and other organisations that rely on large customer databases.

The migration comes as the country’s telecommunications sector faces growing demand for telephone numbers and seeks to expand the available numbering capacity.

PURA has urged users to remain patient during the transition and report persistent problems through its established channels.

By Adama Makasuba