MCC and MNC are the two fields of the ITU-T E.212 plan that identify a mobile network. The Mobile Country Code is three digits; the Mobile Network Code is two or three digits. Together they form the PLMN identity that names the subscriber's home operator, and they open every IMSI — distinct from the dialable MSISDN.
The E.212 identification plan
Where E.164 defines the dialable number, ITU-T E.212 defines how mobile networks and subscribers are identified internally. Its two top-level fields are the Mobile Country Code (MCC), a three-digit value assigned by the ITU to a country or geographic area, and the Mobile Network Code (MNC), a two- or three-digit value assigned by the national regulator to an operator within that country. The MCC and MNC together identify a specific Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) — one operator's network in one country. This pairing is the anchor of mobile identity: it prefixes every IMSI and it names the home network in roaming, routing and signalling.
MCC and MNC field structure
The MCC is always three digits and maps to a country or region — for example 234/235 for the United Kingdom, 310–316 for the United States, 415 for Lebanon. The MNC is two or three digits; its length is a national decision, so within one country all operators use MNCs of the same length. A two-digit MNC yields a five-digit PLMN identifier (MCC+MNC); a three-digit MNC yields six digits. Because MNC length varies by country, an MCC-MNC string can only be parsed correctly with knowledge of that country's convention — a common source of lookup errors when the boundary between MNC and the following MSIN is guessed rather than known.
| Field | Length | Assigned by | Identifies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile Country Code (MCC) | 3 digits | ITU-T | Country / geographic area |
| Mobile Network Code (MNC) | 2 or 3 digits | National regulator | Operator within the country |
| PLMN identity (MCC + MNC) | 5 or 6 digits | — | One operator's network (home PLMN) |
How MCC-MNC identifies the home network
Every IMSI begins with its home network's MCC and MNC, so any node that reads the IMSI knows immediately which operator owns the subscriber. When a subscriber roams, the visited network extracts the MCC-MNC from the IMSI to route authentication and location-update signalling back to the correct home HLR/HSS. The same PLMN identity appears in the broadcast system information a handset uses to recognise its home network versus a roaming partner, and it is carried as the Visited-PLMN-Id in Diameter S6a and as part of the routing information in SS7/MAP. In short, MCC-MNC is how the network answers 'whose subscriber is this, and where do I send the query?'
IMSI = 310150123456789
│ │ │
│ │ └─ MSIN (subscriber, 9–10 digits)
│ └──── MNC (150, operator — here a 3-digit MNC)
└─────── MCC (310, United States)
PLMN identity = MCC + MNC = 310150Test ranges and special codes
E.212 reserves ranges that are not tied to a live commercial network. MCC 001 with MNC 01 is the reserved test PLMN used in labs, test SIMs and conformance equipment, and must never appear on a public network. MCCs in the 90x range are assigned to shared, non-geographic and satellite/global operators rather than a single country. Regulators also leave MNC values unassigned for future allocation. Recognising these ranges matters for validation: a number-intelligence result showing MCC 001, or an MNC that no operator holds in that country, signals test traffic or a malformed identity rather than a reachable subscriber.
| Range | Meaning |
|---|---|
| MCC 001 / MNC 01 | Reserved test network — labs and test SIMs only |
| MCC 901 | Shared / non-geographic global networks (e.g. satellite) |
| MCC 90x | International / shared code space, not a single country |
| Unassigned MNC | Held by the national regulator for future allocation |
MCC-MNC versus the MSISDN's NDC
It is easy to conflate the MCC-MNC pair with the country-code-plus-NDC of a dialable number, but they belong to different plans and different purposes. MCC-MNC (E.212) identifies the network internally and opens the IMSI; CC+NDC (E.164) is the public dialable address a caller uses. They are not interchangeable and there is no fixed arithmetic between them: an operator can own many NDC ranges under one MNC, and number portability means the NDC no longer reliably indicates the operator that currently serves a number. To resolve the true current network of a live MSISDN you perform an HLR lookup, which returns the serving MCC-MNC — the accurate answer that the dialed number alone cannot give.
Where the codes come from
The ITU maintains the authoritative list of MCCs and the operators that hold each MNC, and the GSMA coordinates the operational data operators exchange about their networks. National regulators assign MNCs within their country's MCC(s) and notify the ITU. Because operators launch, merge and hand back codes, the mapping is not static: an accurate MCC-MNC lookup must be kept current against the published assignments. BroadNet's connectivity spans 200+ countries and 1,000+ operator connections, so resolving an MCC-MNC to the right partner network is a routine part of routing a message correctly; the MCC-MNC lookup tool exposes that resolution directly.
Frequently asked
What are MCC and MNC?
The Mobile Country Code (MCC), three digits, identifies a country under the ITU-T E.212 plan; the Mobile Network Code (MNC), two or three digits, identifies an operator within that country. Together they form the PLMN identity that names a subscriber's home network and prefixes every IMSI.
What is a PLMN identity?
A PLMN (Public Land Mobile Network) identity is the MCC and MNC combined — five or six digits — that uniquely names one mobile operator's network in one country. It appears in the IMSI, in broadcast system information, and as the Visited-PLMN-Id in roaming signalling, so nodes can tell which network owns a subscriber.
How many digits is an MNC?
Two or three digits, and the length is a national decision, so within one country every operator uses the same MNC length. This means an MCC-MNC string can only be split correctly with knowledge of that country's convention — guessing the MNC boundary is a common cause of lookup errors.
What is the difference between MCC-MNC and the MSISDN's NDC?
MCC-MNC (E.212) identifies the network internally and opens the IMSI; the country code plus NDC (E.164) is the public dialable address. They belong to different plans with no fixed arithmetic between them, and number portability means the NDC no longer reliably indicates the serving operator — an HLR lookup returns the true current MCC-MNC.
What is MCC 001?
MCC 001 with MNC 01 is the reserved E.212 test network, used in labs, test SIMs and conformance equipment and never on a live public network. Seeing MCC 001 in a number-intelligence result signals test traffic or a malformed identity rather than a reachable subscriber.
Where can I look up an MCC-MNC code?
Use the MCC-MNC lookup tool, which maps a Mobile Country Code and Mobile Network Code to the operator and country that hold them, kept current against the published ITU and GSMA assignments. Because operators launch, merge and return codes, an accurate lookup must track those changes rather than rely on a static list.
Source specifications
The published standards this page is grounded in. Opens in a new tab.