Mizter T wrote:
On 23 Nov, 14:47, "Clive D. W. Feather" cl...@on-the-
train.demon.co.uk wrote:
Mizter T writes

Overlays sound like a pretty ugly 'solution', I'm glad it sounds like
they're probably off the cards.
They're a lot better than the alternatives (area splits, like the London
01 - 071+081, and length changing, like Reading 01734-0118), both of
which affect existing customers as well.

But one could argue that overlays will affect everyone in the area in
that they'll force people into dialling an 11 digit number for some
local calls. Indeed in the US I've read that the FCC mandates 11 digit
dialling in areas where there are overlays so as to ensure that no
telco has a competitive advantage over any others simply because they
can offer new subscribers numbers in the the older established area
code.

pedantIt's only 10 digits to make a local call in the states, 3 digit
area code plus 7 digit number. The "1" to access the long-distance
network may be omitted when making local calls from a land line (and
must be omitted in Texas,) and may be omitted on any call from a
mobile./pedant

Some of this is that there is no segregation between mobile, voIP, and
land line numbering in the American system, so as more and more people
get mobiles, the crunch is continuing.

Until overlays started, the standard was 7 digits (or fewer, in some
small towns) for local calls, "1"+10 for long-distance. (And "1"+7 for a
while for long-distance calls within the area code.) Where local calling
areas crossed area code lines, pains were taken to prevent the same
prefix being used in the same local calling area. This got to be
troublesome in places where a major metropolitan area straddled an area
code line (usually because of a state line running through the
metropolitan area; codes are specific to one and only one state.)

It's a bit of a hodgepodge now. If one's local calling area is entirely
within a single area code, without overlays, 7 digits is still the
minimum to dial a call. If there is an overlay, or in some places where
local calling includes two or more area codes, 10 digits are required
for all local calls. In some places with a geographic split only, and no
overlay, it's 7 digits within your area code and 10 outside (e.g., calls
in Kansas City, Missouri must be dialed xxx-xxxx, but calls to Kansas
City, Kansas side must be 913-xxx-xxxx.)

With the university crowd, everyone's main phone is their mobile and the
numbers are almost universally from "back home," so 10 digits is pretty
much the standard for them. But I'm not looking forward to the
inevitable day North America has to add a digit to their phone numbers,
since it's been using the relatively rigid (xxx) xxx-xxxx format since
intercity direct dialing was introduced.