Telephone line numbers, prefixes, and area codes
 

Graham Nye wrote:
On 30/03/2012 21:17, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

Right. Callers from outside your country sure appreciate that
caller pays surcharge on top of the charge for international long distance,
as it's not readily apparent to foreigners that caller pays applies.

Anyone dialling from outside the UK can spot a UK mobile number as
it will start +44 7... (where + is 011 for NANP countries).

+ is the international instruction to dial the routing digits to make
an international call. I believe we all recognize it.

I've never seen a comprehensive list of caller pays or other surcharged
numbers in other countries, and you probably don't know what they are
for my country. I have seen incomplete lists and I've read that there
are plenty of exceptions.

It's up to your calltime provider to advise you how much calls will
cost. (Who else can say?)

My service won't know in advance under all circumstances.

As a random example AT&T quote separate landline and wireless rates to
various countries so it should be readily apparent to anyone who bothers
to check international calling rates before dialling:
http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/in.../in-the-us.jsp

I've seen such lists before. This list doesn't have the surcharge, so
it's not all that helpful. It doesn't even tell you which are premium and
which are caller pays mobile.

I do note that several countries in NANP have surcharged numbers, I
assume mainly for caller pays mobile. That should be a surprise to anyone.

Telephone line numbers, prefixes, and area codes
 

Graham Nye wrote:

IIRC they were also called cell phones in the UK back when analogue
cellular systems were new, complete with diagrams of hexagonal cells
covering the countryside. Mention of cell or cellular has fallen out
of use in the UK to be replaced by "mobile". But language keeps
moving on and for younger people (say, teens and twenties) mobiles
may just be referred to as "phones" now, as landline phones are
something only their parents will have.

Young people who think hand-held communication devices are for texting
and have no idea that it's possible to make a voice call?

Telephone line numbers, prefixes, and area codes
 

In message , at 13:07:02 on
Sat, 31 Mar 2012, Bruce remarked:

I have been trying to find an image of the first Vodafone handset
type. I never thought to take a picture of mine.

Here's one:
http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10309778&screenwidth=1536

I remember that one, but this is the handset usually regarded as "the
first": http://www.retrobrick.com/moto8000.html
--
Roland Perry

Telephone line numbers, prefixes, and area codes
 

On 31-Mar-12 10:48, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Graham Nye wrote:
On 30/03/2012 21:17, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Right. Callers from outside your country sure appreciate that
caller pays surcharge on top of the charge for international long distance,
as it's not readily apparent to foreigners that caller pays applies.

Anyone dialling from outside the UK can spot a UK mobile number as
it will start +44 7... (where + is 011 for NANP countries).

+ 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've run into numerous people that genuinely think "011" is part of the
phone number for overseas calls--perhaps a strange area code. And, yes,
sometimes they try to dial "1" first.)

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).

Worse, some carriers do not present _any_ sort of prefix for Caller ID,
so int'l calls come in _looking like_ domestic calls. For instance, I
remember a call from a former employer's Brussels office, which had 10
digits and was displayed on my phone's screen as (322) xxx-xxxx. I
happen to know area code 322 was reserved* and realized it must have
been from somewhere in Europe, but most Americans wouldn't--and they
wouldn't know how to return that call if they missed it.

(* All "Easily Remembered Codes", which means those with identical
trailing digits, are reserved for special purposes.)

It's up to your calltime provider to advise you how much calls will
cost. (Who else can say?)

My service won't know in advance under all circumstances.

Can you provide an example? I can't think of one.

I do note that several countries in NANP have surcharged numbers, I
assume mainly for caller pays mobile. That should be a surprise to
anyone.

I'm not aware of any surcharged numbers other than the well-known
(within the NANP, at least) 900 and 976 numbers. 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. These were formerly all grouped into area code
809, but now they're spread among a dozen or so area codes, so it's more
difficult to avoid them without checking the number first.

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

Telephone line numbers, prefixes, and area codes
 

In message , at 10:18:46 on Sat, 31 Mar
2012, Stephen Sprunk remarked:
Phones you could put in your pocket or wear on your belt didn't become
common until the mid-90s, IIRC.

My first cellphone was definitely a pocket phone (it was marketed as
such). I bought it in mid 1988 and although a bit big for a "shirt
pocket" it fitted a jacket pocket really well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excel_mobile_phones
http://vintage-mobile.livejournal.com/16417.html

The biggest problem with the Excel was that the battery was wired in and
not a user-changeable item. Nor did they accept that it was covered by
the product's 5yr maintenance contract. (They finally settled on the
courtroom steps).

And I won't buy products (other than maybe a trivial MP3 player) with
wired in batteries ever since - sorry, Apple.
--
Roland Perry

Telephone line numbers, prefixes, and area codes
 

In message , at 15:48:44 on Sat, 31 Mar
2012, Adam H. Kerman remarked:
I've never seen a comprehensive list of caller pays or other surcharged
numbers in other countries, and you probably don't know what they are
for my country. I have seen incomplete lists and I've read that there
are plenty of exceptions.

It's up to your calltime provider to advise you how much calls will
cost. (Who else can say?)

My service won't know in advance under all circumstances.

A lot of them "take a view" and if they are charging you (eg) $2 a
minute to be calling Obscuristan they won't be that worried if they get
a bill for 30c/min to terminate on a mobile rather than 10c/min on a
landline. The bulk of the money is to pay for the International transit,
and their cleverness for getting you to shell out $2 rather than 40c in
the first place.
--
Roland Perry

Telephone line numbers, prefixes, and area codes
 

On Sat, 31 Mar 2012 10:28:16 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 23:14:18 on
Fri, 30 Mar 2012, Frank Erskine remarked:
My current "favourite" Americanism is the announcement on a delayed
aeroplane that "the airplane will be taking off momentarily".

I'm usually more worried when they say it will be "landing momentarily".

That is one my favourite language differences.

Guy Gorton

Telephone line numbers, prefixes, and area codes
 

In message , at 18:16:34 on
Sat, 31 Mar 2012, Guy Gorton remarked:
I'm usually more worried when they say it will be "landing momentarily".

That is one my favourite language differences.

There's still plenty of mileage in Durex/Sellotape, Rubber/Condom/Eraser
territory. Not to mention ****ed/angry/drunk.
--
Roland Perry

Telephone line numbers, prefixes, and area codes
 

Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 31-Mar-12 10:48, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Graham Nye wrote:
On 30/03/2012 21:17, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

Right. Callers from outside your country sure appreciate that
caller pays surcharge on top of the charge for international long distance,
as it's not readily apparent to foreigners that caller pays applies.

Anyone dialling from outside the UK can spot a UK mobile number as
it will start +44 7... (where + is 011 for NANP countries).

+ 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. 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.

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.

It's up to your calltime provider to advise you how much calls will
cost. (Who else can say?)

My service won't know in advance under all circumstances.

Can you provide an example? I can't think of one.

I haven't had a little surprise on my bill in a while. Next time it happens,
I'll let you know.

I do note that several countries in NANP have surcharged numbers, I
assume mainly for caller pays mobile. That should be a surprise to
anyone.

I'm not aware of any surcharged numbers other than the well-known
(within the NANP, at least) 900 and 976 numbers.

Look at the list our friend pointed out. That's where I noticed it.

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.

Telephone line numbers, prefixes, and area codes
 

On 31-Mar-12 11:46, Roland Perry wrote:
A lot of them "take a view" and if they are charging you (eg) $2 a
minute to be calling Obscuristan

Is that near Uzbekibekibekistanstan?

http://www.google.com/search?q=Uzbekibekibekistanstan

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