StCirq

I am hoping some savvy Fodorite can help me, as I've lucked out with my long distance phone carrier. I need to fax something to the United Nations office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by noon my time tomorrow, and the number they gave me isn't working.
The number I have is 251-1-511874 or 251-1-514416.
I've tried it with 011 before it and it doesn't work. I tried it without 011. I tried calling Verizon to find out if there was a country code I needed to include and they "didn't know."
Anyone??
Sorry to intrude on the Europe forum for this, but there are just so many informed people here I thought it was worth it.

Christina

I'm certainly no expert on calling Ethiopia, but you have to use the 011 from US to international numbers. 251 IS the country code for Ethiopia and 1 is the city code fo Addis Adaba. 011-251-1-whatever should have worked. Ethiopian numbers are six digits, apparently. Your number is apparently for the Economic Commission. HEre is a page of FAX numbers for UN Ethiopia with both your numbers on it for various personnel:
http://www.uneca.org/about_eca/contact_details.htm

It gives an email address, I guess you could use that. My suggestion would be to try a zero in front of the city code of 1, as that is commonly needed for other countries outside the US with city area codes.

WillTravel

Try these instructions (scroll down to where it says "See how to dial to Addis Ababa&quot:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=7

rex

From everything I can find on the internet, you have it correct:011 for overseas, 251 for Ethiopia, 1 for Addis Ababa, and then a six digit number. There are countless hotels, telephone and fax that all have this same pattern 1+ six digit number.

Perhaps someone at the Ethiopia embassy or the UN mission can help verify the number?

Best wishes,

Rex

brotherleelove2004

With my phone system I have to dial a 1 before I dial any other series of numbers. Have you tried that?

cigalechanta

first the exit country code+251+city code+the number you want to reach.

Surlok

StCirq,

As per this web site, 251 is the country code for Ethiopia, and 1 is the city code for A.Ababa.

http://www.un.org/aroundworld/unics/...addisababa.htm

This is not UN web site for Addis Ababa, but the UNIC web page, the information center of UN. Maybe the number you got is wrong.

StCirq

Thank you so much, Christina and Rex and Will Travel,particularly Christina, as I was thinking about adding a zero in front of the city code, because that is so often the case in Europe but I didn't think necessarily in Ethiopia.
Will try now and report back. Thank you all very much!

cmt

As you might guess, I don't know a thing about calling Ethiopia. But I checked on the Internet, and everything I found is consistent with what others have posted, i.e. 251 is the country code and 1 is apparently the city code for Addis Ababa. However, on one site listing phone numbers in Ethiopia I saw a double zero used before the country code, making the number start with 00251. Maybe you can try that. Or maybe you can ask the US embassy there for help. Their Numbers:
251-1-550-666, x 316 or 336
or, after hours: 251-1-552-558

Maybe the lines are just overloaded. I read on one of the websites that Ethiopia has one of the lowest phone-to-population densities in the world. There just may not be enough lines to handle the calls at this moment.

Good luck.

StCirq

Whatever it is , it is damned unnerving _ they need me to respond to a request for proposal by 10 a.m. tomorrow but I can't get through to them by fax. I know it's a Third-World country, but the paperwork has to be there by May 7.
Anyway, not your problem.Thank you SO much for the phone info.

Flyboy

StCirq, I wonder if it wouldn't be worth just calling the Ethiopian Embassy first thing in the morning, since such a thing would very routine for the staff there. Another possibility is that with all the international communications being transacted in your general vicinity, I wouldn't even be all that surprised if there are Kinko's outlets and similar places where such a request is rather common.

Queenie

I call Africa regularly, but I live in Europe.

I use: 00 (country code) (city code) (6 digit local number).

Give 00 251 1 511874 a try.

Do not put a 0 before the city code.

cmt

Sometimes it just happens that someone needs some odd bit of info, and there are people who enjoy searching and finding info, for the challenge and sport of it. So it can turn out that everybody wins if the search is fun and the information is helpful.

I'm curious whether adding the 00 before the 251 made it work. I found only one web page where the number was shown that way, but that may just be what's used in Europe (instead of our 011) to make a foreign call.

111op

I'm not an expert either, but some thoughts, in case you've not resolved the problems.

(1) Dial 00. That used to be the way to get an international operator. Presumably the international operator would know what to do.

(2) Post in the Africa forum. Presumably people bound for Africa might have dealt with Addis Ababa.

(3) Perhaps your fax numbers are defective.

StCirq

Thanks very much to all. The fax just went through - 001-251-1-511874 (no need to add a zero before the city code). After talking to the US Embassy there this morning, I learned that Ethiopia just has terrible phone service and not nearly enough lines to handle service and that my experience is typical. You just have to keep trying.
Thanks again.