Common Number Plans For GSM

E.164

E.164 is an ITU-T recommendation which defines the international public telecommunication numbering plan used in the PSTN and some other data networks. It also defines the format of telephone numbers. E.164 numbers can have a maximum of fifteen digits. All mobile numbers that we use for calling are in this format.


Format of E.164 Address is as following

CC(country code) + NDC (network destination code) + SN(Subscriber Number)

For eg if you are India subscriber than CC will be 91, If in India you are Vodafone Delhi subscriber then NDC will be 9811 and SN can be any unique number under this CC NDC say 123456.
So you number will be CC+NDC+SN = 91 9811 123456

E.212

The IMSI conforms to the ITU E.212 numbering standard. An International Mobile Subscriber Identity or IMSI is a unique identification associated with all GSM and UMTS network mobile phone users. It is stored as a 64 bit field in the SIM inside the phone and is sent by the phone to the network for identification. IMSI help network identify susbcriber and hence provide all requried services. E212 number can have maximum 15 digits.

Format of E.212 Address is as following

MCC(mobile country code) + MNC(mobile network code) + MSIN( mobile station identification number)

For eg if you are India subscriber than MCC will be 404, If in India you are Vodafone Delhi subscriber then MNC will be 10 and SN can be any unique number under this CC NDC say 1234567890.
So you number will be MCC+MNC+MSIN = 404101234567890

E.214

E.214 is a numbering plan used for delivering mobility management related messages in GSM networks. The E.214 number is derived from the IMSI E.212 numbers are composed of two parts. The first, the E.164 part, is made up of a country code followed by the network code. The second part of the number is made from the MSIN part of the IMSI which identifies an individual subscriber.



For eg if IMSI is  404101234567890 , then corresponding E214 address will be formedby replacing MCC(404) by CC(91) and replacing MNC(10) with NDC(9811) and keeping MSIN as is (as long as it is less than equal to 15 digits).

404 10 1234567890  becomes 91 9811 123456789

So basically number format of E.214 is similar to E164 , just that E214 is generated from IMSI and is not actual GT but a virtual GT.

E.214 numbers are routed separately from E.164 numbers since they are marked with a different Numbering Plan Indicator, however, it is possible to reuse the Global Title analysis tables used E.164 numbers everywhere except for the final destination network of the message. This saves considerable administrative work.