Telephone companies in European cities

Date: 21/11/1996

should guarantee, by the year 2000 at the latest, that customers can keep their existing phone numbers if they switch to another company, a Commission consultative paper suggested this week. By the same deadline, customers should be able to have standing orders for international calls handled by the company of their choice. Uniform freephone numbers across Europe should be agreed by 1998, adds the paper.