E. Timor gets own phone code

E. Timor gets own phone code

DILI, East Timor (AFP): The UN-administered territory of East
Timor has now been given its own telephone country code, a UN
spokesman said Friday.

Manoel de Almeida Silva, of the UN Transitional Administration
in East Timor (UNTAET), said international communication
authorities have attributed the country code 670 to East Timor.

East Timor, which voted to break away from Indonesia on August
30, came under UN administration in October and will remain so
until a free state of East Timor is established in two to three
years.

De Almeida said that the new country code will not come into
effect immediately, but added that "the procedure to introduce it
has started."

Indonesia, which provided telecommunication services in East
Timor for 24 years, cut their services when Indonesian troops
withdrew in September from the territory it invaded in 1975 and
annexed in 1976.

Telecommunication services have since been assured by an
Australian company operating a cellular telephone network
service.