French landline number for life?

The results of a public consultation are being examined to gauge preferences on numbers, which currently fall into five groups: 01 (Paris), 02 (north-west France) 03 (northeast) 04 (southeast) and 05 (southwest).

At present, if you move from the south to the north, or east to west, or into Ile-de-France from outside, you must take a new number to fit the location.

Now telecoms watchdog the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes is carrying out a study, reviewing whether to end geographical links and bring landlines into line with mobiles or lines starting with the 09 prefix code.