MANILA - Globe Telecom on Monday said it would implement 8-digit landline numbers in greater Metro Manila starting March 2019 in compliance with a directive issued by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

The NTC's Memorandum Order No. 10-10-2017 directed telecommunications companies to migrate all customers with 02 area code to 8-digit from 7-digit telephone numbers to cater to the "rapid growth" of landline customers in major cities, Globe Telecom said in a statement.

An additional public telecommunications entity (PTE) identifier for telecom operators was assigned as an additional prefix, Globe said.

For instance, a Globe customer with existing landline number of (02)576-4567 will have to change his or her number to (02)7576-4567 come March 18, 2019, the telco said.

"We are working closely with the NTC and other telcos to assist affected customers before, during and after the migration. We would like to see all our customers being aware of this change before it comes into effect,” said Globe general counsel Froilan Castelo.

Customers may experience downtime during the migration period set on March 18, 2019 from 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., Globe said.