Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number

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What Does Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number Mean?

A Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN) is a number used for the international identification of mobile phone numbers. The number also includes the country code and a national destination code characterizing the subscriber’s operator, which is usually used to track calls to subscribers.

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A MSISDN is also known as a Mobile Station Integrated Services Digital Number (MSISDN).

Techopedia Explains Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number

A MSISDN uniquely classifies a subscription in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks. It is the telephone number of the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card displayed on mobile or cellular phones.

MSISDN numbering adheres to numbering plans defined in ITU Telecommunications Standardization Sector (ITU-T) recommendation E.164. The MSISDN and International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) are essential to identifying mobile subscribers. The IMSI usually identifies the SIM and is used as a subscriber database key. The MSISDN is the number dialed to bond calls to mobile phones.

A MSISDN may be written in various ways, depending on the source or standardization body and is limited to 15 digits, excluding prefixes.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.