By Sirrah Touray
The Gambia has successfully migrated to 9-digits mobile numbers, but Gamcel will join the new system in the second phase with 89 prefix reserved for them, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (Pura) confirmed during a press briefing.
Pura head Njogu Bah said Africell, QCell and Comium completed the migration at midnight on Sunday, 30th August, without disruption to calls, SMS and mobile money services.
Addressing public concerns about Gamcel’s conspicuous absence in the migration, Mr Bah stated: “Gamcel is not being left behind, nor is it being excluded from the national numbering plan migration. Gamcel will be joining the migration as part of a second phase.” He said the first phase involved operators that were technically ready.
“As part of the new national numbering plan, Pura has reserved the 89 prefix for Gamcel. This ensures that Gamcel has dedicated numbering resources within the 9-digit environment and that the company has a clearly identifiable numbering range available for its migration,” he stated.
He added that Pura will continue working with Gamcel to meet technical, operational and customer readiness requirements. “Our objective is very clear. We want all mobile operators in The Gambia operating under the new 9-digit national numbering plan. We want no operator left behind and we want no consumer left behind,” he said.
The authority announced a parallel run period where both 7 and 9 digit numbers will work. The final cut-off date for 7 digit numbers has been extended to 28th February 2027 due to the electoral period and end-of-year holidays.
The DG urged the public to start updating contacts, bank details and social media accounts to the new format now. He also warned against fraudsters asking for PINs or OTPs during the migration.
“The migration has been successfully completed. The nine-digit numbering system is now live. The Gambia is ready for the next chapter of its digital future,” he concluded.