The national directory enquiries will have a new telephone number as of 1 October. From this day onwards the service can be accessed by calling 11800 from any Hungarian landline or mobile network.

The National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) published a call for tenders for running the directory enquiry service at the end of 2013. The best value for money bid was submitted by Invitel Távközlési Zrt.

The effective EU provisions stipulate that the directory enquiry service is to be reviewed at regular intervals, thus according to the pertaining NMHH Decree the two institutions signed the contract in July for a definite term. According to the agreement Invitel will provide a nationwide enquiry service under uniform terms and conditions.

In line with EU regulatory trends aimed at the phasing out of three-digit call numbers, the number for directory enquiries changes and with effect from 30 September 2014 the Authority revokes the licence for the number 198.

Under a draft NMHH Decree, those dialling the currently used number 198 will hear a recorded message as a reminder of the switch.

The national directory enquiries provides information on residential and business telephone numbers, whether fixed line or mobile, provided that the subscriber concerned has consented to the release of its number.

Enquirers can find out telephone numbers by specifying location data or vice versa and request to be automatically put through to standard rate numbers or notified of the number in a text message if they have a subscription.