The New Zealand telephone numbering plan describes the allocation of telephone numbers in New Zealand and the Pitcairn Islands. History By the 1970s, New Zealand's telephone network consisted primarily of step-by-step telephone exchanges or, in the main centres, a mixture of rotary and step-by-step exchanges, with a few rural areas still served by manual exchanges. Local telephone number lengths varied from 3 to 6 digits depending on the size of exchange and population of the local calling area. Numerous complex dialling instructions appeared in the front of telephone books explaining the number sequences needed to reach subscribers in local "free calling" areas, and in a few cases for short-distance toll calls (usually to the local city or town), which were recorded on manually read meters in some step-by-step local exchanges. Local calls were free (and still are for residential customers). Long distance (toll) calls required the manual intervention of an operator, who had access to toll circuits, either via an operator's cord board or a toll exchange (switch). Access to the toll operator was by dialling 0. Local directory service could be accessed via 100, telephone faults via 120, and emergency services by dialling 111. Crossbar exchanges were installed from the 1970s, and electronic exchanges from 1982. Subscriber toll dialling (the historical codes) Subscriber toll dialling (STD) was introduced in the New Zealand telephone network in the mid-1970s, a result of the introduction of NEC crossbar-based toll exchanges and their ability to perform number translation. One still needed to dial 0 to make a toll call, but instead of calling the operator, one could then dial the STD number directly. Access to the operator was via 010, while other service numbers remained unchanged. The original STD codes were numbered roughly south to north, with a few exceptions. A complete list of STD codes from 1987 is below: STD codes were assigned with larger areas having short STD codes (e.g. Auckland - 09), while smaller areas had longer STD codes and shorter local numbers (e.g. Shannon - 06927). The total number length, that is STD code and local number excluding the first 0, usually totalled seven digits, but could vary up to nine, as exchanges often increased the length of local numbers to accommodate new lines. Reorganisation With the introduction of NEC stored program control exchanges in the New Zealand telephone network during the 1980s, and the rapid growth in demand,