Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!texbell!vector!telecom-gateway From: essachs@ihlpb.att.com (Edward S Sachs) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: 8-Digit Phone Numbers vs. More Area Codes Message-ID: Date: 14 Nov 89 17:35:36 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 18 Approved: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.dallas.tx.us X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 9, issue 514, message 1 of 11 How about this as an alternative for local calling: Split the area code (as in the recent 312/708 split here in the Chicago area), but go to 8 digit local dialing for intra-LATA calls. For example, if your number was (312) 555-1234 and is now (708) 555-1234, it would be dialable from anywhere within 312 or 708 as 8555-1234. Numbers still within 312 would have a '2' prepended to them. In other words, phone numbers would remain 10 digits, but local dialing would be the last 8 rather than the last 7. This could even be extended to those parts of the Chicago LATA that are in 815 and 219, and would also work for other multi-area code areas, as long as the final digit of the area codes are distinct and not 1 or 0. Ed Sachs AT&T Bell Laboratories, Naperville, IL att!ihlpb!essachs, e.s.sachs@att.com