What is an MCC (mobile country code)?
An MCC is the three-digit code that identifies a country in mobile networks — 310 is the United States, 262 is Germany. Together with the MNC it pinpoints one specific carrier anywhere on earth.
Definition
The Mobile Country Code (MCC) is a three-digit identifier, defined by the ITU in recommendation E.212, that marks the country (or geographic region) of a mobile network. Examples: 310–316 cover the United States, 262 is Germany, 234 is the United Kingdom, 255 is Ukraine. The MCC is the first half of the PLMN identifier; the second half is the MNC, which names the specific operator inside that country.
MCCs appear everywhere in mobile plumbing: the first three digits of every IMSI, in HLR and MNP lookup responses, in cell-broadcast metadata, and in the network lists a handset scans when roaming. Note that MCC is not the same as the telephone country calling code (+1, +49): a number’s dialling prefix is E.164 numbering, while MCC is network-layer identity — a US number roaming in Germany still has MCC 310 in its IMSI but registers on an MCC 262 network.
Why it matters
Any system that routes, prices, or analyses mobile traffic per carrier keys on MCC+MNC pairs. Misreading MCC as a calling code — or assuming a ported or roaming number matches its prefix — is a classic source of misrouted messages and wrong per-country billing.
See it in action
Browse the full MCC/MNC carrier table →