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• Purpose of use

Purpose of use

The 116 numbers for "Harmonised Services of social Value" enable EU citizens to access certain services of high social value in all Member States under a single, recognizable telephone number. Due to the combination "same number - same service", a given service is always associated with the same number throughout the community, regardless of the Member State in which it is provided. This gives the service a pan-European identity for the benefit of the EU citizens, who then know that the same type of service under the same number can be reached in different Member States. The service therefore contributes to the well-being and safety of citizens.

Numbers for HDSW are assigned by the Bundesnetzagentur directly to the provider of the defined service. The allocation however firstly requires the reservation of a specific number for a particular service by decision of the EU Commission by adding it to the "list of telephone numbers reserved for harmonized services of social value". Once a telephone number has been officially reserved, the Member States announces at national level that this number is now available for the provision of the designated service and that the right to use that number may be applied for. The Bundesnetzagentur publishes this in its Official Journal and on its website.

Further information - in German only - can be found on the following website: www.bundesnetzagentur.de/nummerierung116