South Sudan to receive telephone country code, top level domain

South Sudan to receive telephone country code, top level domain

2011-07-15 03:07:46 GMT+7 (ICT)

JUBA (BNO NEWS) -- South Sudan, which became the world's newest nation on Saturday when it broke away from Sudan, will soon get its own telephone country code and a top level internet domain.

Madut Biar Yel, Minister for Telecommunications and Postal Services, announced on Thursday that it has been issued 211 by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the country code for telecommunications.

Madut Biar said he was pleased with the ITU's prompt action and announced the code will be activated by Saturday. South Sudan is currently using code 249 of Sudan since its secession from the African country and all numbers will continue to work but with a new code.

The minister further explained that the new code is memorable given that the digits closely resemble 2011 which is the birth year of the new country. He also said that the digits are simple and can be remembered easily.

Madut Biar urged the telecommunications operators in the country to configure their systems appropriately and roll out the new code as soon as it is activated. He said that citizens started calling him on Saturday to find out the new code of the new Republic.

The undersecretary in the ministry, Engineer Juma Stephen Lugga, explained that the ITU will soon issue an operational bulletin to the international community to announce the activation of the new code. With that the country will desist from using 249 and migrate to the new code forthwith.

Madut Biar also announced that South Sudan's top level domain for websites will soon be issued. He said the ministry has applied for a .ss top level domain and expects it to be issued in due course, but gave no exact date.

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