digit of 1900 numbers is mainly 9; such numbers were converted from the 0055 prefix (for example, 0055 55 123 would become 1900 955 123. New Zealand In New Zealand, premium-rate telephone numbers begin with 0900. The service is used by phone sex companies, phone support services and for donations to charitable organizations. South America Argentina Telephone numbers of the form 0600-xxx-xxxx and 0609-xxx-xxxx are premium rate numbers. The 0609 series is for entertainment (fixed rate), while 0600 is for services (the rate depends on the particular number). Brazil In Brazil, there is only one premium prefix: 0500, and this number is used by organizations receiving donations (it's a premium rate per call and not per minute). In the 1990s, numbers starting with 900 were used for that purpose and later numbers starting with 0900 was available, but now is no longer allowed. As there are no longer premium numbers, TV shows now use mobile numbers to receive calls and generate revenue to their program. For the same premium rate purpose, it is used of numbers destined to mobile phones with unusual code of selection of carriers for the purpose of charging a premium rate per minute. Ex: 0 91 41 98401–0101. Using international-rate calls as premium-rate numbers As an alternative to official premium-rate numbers, service operators have been known to use kickbacks from high-rate international call tariffs to charge for their services. In these cases, the calls may never leave the country of origin, even though the number has a country calling code (or an NANP area code) specifying a country with high incoming call rates. A recent practice known as traffic pumping involves service operators partnering with small telephone companies who are allowed to charge high call termination fees for incoming long-distance calls, per government regulations which mark the serving area of the small phone company as rural/high cost. Since most, if not all, long distance in the US is a single rate regardless of terminating exchange for customers (but not for long-distance companies, as each interconnection agreement is different), these services are "free" for the calling customers. Since these kinds of numbers have confused international jurisdiction, they are also sometimes used for fraud. See also Telecommunications tariffs Premium SMS References Telephone numbers Telecommunications economics