Using Telephones in Vienna

Since the late 90s, Austria’s telephone network has been deregulated meaning that Telekom Austria, the nation’s biggest provider, now offer cheaper calls (in recent years charges have fallen by up to 30%). What’s more, the fixed line phone network is one of Europe’s most efficient, while mobile services (called ‘handy’ locally) enjoy one of the highest penetration rates anywhere in the world. And, more recently, data subscriber services (such as ADSL) have also been hugely popular, meaning that Austria is pretty well-wired up in every respect.

Public Pay Phones - making calls from public pay phones is straightforward. Perhaps the easiest way is to buy a Telekom Austria CalllingCard, which are available in units of €10, €15, €35 and €50. All you need do is dial the toll-free access number, enter the card number (revealed after scratching the panel) and follow the procedure given on the back of the card. Each card comes complete with instructions, a table of tariffs and a list of the countries in which the card can be used (currently you can make calls from Austria to 200 countries and, in turn, call Austria from 40 other countries worldwide). Other phone cards (Telefon Wertkarte) are also available from post offices, tobacconists and train stations.

If you’re using coins (euros), Telekom Austria are currently advising customers to look at the unit’s money-back flap before making a call from a public payphone (due to incidents of vandalism aimed at defrauding the telecoms companies). If the money-back compartment doesn’t open, then use another booth (unless you have a CallingCard or Telefon Wertkarte, as such cards are not affected).

International Calls - to make an international call from Austria dial 00, wait for the tone, and then dial the country and city code followed by the number. The UK’s international access code is 44, while US and Canada are both 1. Calls from Vienna to other towns in Austria should be prefixed by 0, followed by the area code (made up of 3/4 digits e.g. 0-662 for Salzburg. Calls to Austria from abroad must be prefixed by 00 43 (if you’re calling Vienna it should be 00 43 1). And, as is usually the case when overseas, unless you have a global calling card, avoid making international calls from your hotel (as a five-minute call will cost a fortune). A partial list of country codes is given below:

Country	International Code
Australia	61
Austria	43
Belgium	32
Canada	1
China	86
Cyprus	357
Czech Republic	420
Denmark	45
Egypt	20
Finland	358
France	33
Germany	49
Greece	30
Hungary	36
India	91
Israel	972
Italy	39
Japan	81
Mexico	52
Morocco	212
Netherlands	31
New Zealand	64
Nigeria	234
Norway	47
Paraguay	595
Poland	48
Portugal	351
Romania	40
Russian Federation	7
Saudi Arabia	966
Singapore	65
South Africa	27
Sweden	46
Switzerland	41
Turkey	90
USA	1
Yemen	967
Zimbabwe	263

Mobile Phones - to use an overseas mobile phone in Austria (international roaming) the handset must be GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) compatible. Invariably, calls made while overseas attract a higher tariff than normal, as charges are levied not only by your home network operator, but also by the company responsible for the local network (i.e. the company through which you connect in London). As billing charges vary, contact your telecoms or mobile phone provider for further details. Mobiles are referred to as ‘Handy’ in Austria

Directory Assistance - an online telephone directory is available on the Internet at: www.herold.at (with Yellow Pages too). However, to speak to a local representative dial 0800 100 100 (freephone).

Telephone Numbers Explained - at first sight, telephone numbers for Vienna appear inconsistent i.e. some have far fewer digits than others. The reason for this is because some are for individual lines, others are for those with an extension (which can be dialled directly) or faxes, and yet still more for party lines. For example: 5233924-0 shows the number has extensions. So, if you know the extension of the person you’re calling, drop the 0 at the end and replace with the extension number. As faxes are often extensions of the main number, you may see a shorter set of digits quoted (in such cases dial the telephone number prefix to get the full fax number).