CORIATS
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Date of last Update: 06 August 1998

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New Area Code (649) introduced for the Turks and Caicos Islands

Effective 1 June 1997, the telephone area code for TCI was officially changed to (649) instead of (809). With effect from June 1998, the old code no longer works for dialling calls to TCI. Arrangements should therefore be made to update all records of telephone and fax numbers in TCI.

The old code of (809) served the entire Caribbean region, but recent growth has required individual countries to adopt different area codes in order to meet demand for new telephone lines.

The new code of (649) may be easily remembered as the reverse of the three digits (946) which precede most older telephone numbers in TCI, including those at CORIATS.

The Trust Company's new numbers are therefore as follow:

Telephones: +1 (649) 946-4800
Telecopiers: +1 (649) 946-4850

As previously, multiple lines are accessible using the Trust Company's main number, reducing the chances of callers obtaining a busy signal.

Also effective from 1 June 1998, mandatory seven-digit dialling became effective within TCI for all local calls. For example, instead of dialling 6-4800 to reach the Trust Company from within TCI, it is now necessary to dial 946-4800. As we recall with nostalgia the days (not so long ago) when it was necessary to dial only four digits to reach any number in the Islands, we recognise that progress has a price. (We can at least, however, comfort ourselves with the knowledge that as of the same month, it became necessary in South Florida to dial ten digits to reach a number across the road or down the hall.....)