On 31-Mar-12 13:10, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 31-Mar-12 10:48, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
+ is the international instruction to dial the routing digits to make
an international call. I believe we all recognize it.

You'd be surprised. Many Americans probably don't know what our int'l
dialing prefix is since they've never used it--and it's not necessary
for int'l calls to other countries in the NANP.

I have a GSM handset.

So your dialing isn't broken by design, as it is with CDMA and iDEN
handsets (and, formerly, AMPS and TDMA).

Every call is dialed with country code, although I can dial 10 digits
domestically. I have to dial a literal + for international dialing
outside NANP.

If you dial "1" rather than "+1" for NANP calls, you are _not_ dialing
with a country code but rather with the long distance access code, which
AFAIK is optional on all NA mobile operators.

This is very confusing for most Merkins because our country code looks
very similar to our long-distance access code--only the presence of the
"+" distinguishes between the two.

Also, on some mobile phones, the int'l prefix is actually "01", which
many people may not distinguish from the "1" that sometimes precedes
NANP calls (including Caller ID, on some carriers).

I wonder why that is, as that would get you operator assistance on a
land line call.

I never asked when I was with that carrier; I just know that using 011
didn't work and Customer Service directed me to use 01.

There are several countries in the NANP that charge ridiculous int'l
toll rates for numbers, hoping that clueless Americans can be enticed
into dialing them, but that's it.

You're talking about that fraud. Calls didn't even terminate there. The
telecom was splitting the long distance settlement fees with those
call centers.

Also, there are new countries in the NANP.

The fraud was in _not terminating_ the calls in the country in question.
The ridiculous int'l tolls themselves were (and still are) legitimate
for calls _actually terminated_ in those countries, though they have
come down in recent years for unrelated reasons.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking