Mexico City - Say goodbye to telephone prefix confusion: all phone calls in Mexico - mobile or fixed - will be made using 10 digits, and no prefixes will be required.

The Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) announced the change late last month, but it won't take effect until August 3, 2019.

The prefixes being phased out include the 01 entered before long-distance calls or non-geographical numbers (think 01-800 numbers), and 044 and 045, used to make local and long-distance calls, respectively, to a mobile phone from a landline.

A long distance call from abroad to a mobile number in Mexico will no longer need the number 1 before the area code.

The IFT said telecommunication service providers have more than a year and a half before the new system becomes active, enough time to adjust their networks and systems for proper implementation of the new 10-digit domestic dialing.

The agency said the system will allow for a more streamlined and standardized dialing procedure and a more efficient administration of numeric resources.

It will also save a lot of confusion for anyone unfamiliar with the current system.