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From: 0002909785@mcimail.com (J. Stephen Reed)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Another Clue to Possible E. German Prefixes
Message-ID: <8432@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 30 May 90 23:29:00 GMT
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Some messages about a week ago dealt with Salomon Brothers opening an
office in East Germany, but with a telephone number that was prefixed
for a West German cellular exchange.  The original msg asked whether a
contingency plan with as-yet-unused prefixes was being put into effect
for East Germany, pending the reunification.

I may have a clue as to how they are thinking, from parallel facts in
the postal world.

West German postal codes are normally four digits, ranging from 1000
(West Berlin) to 7999.  An article in the Germany Philatelic Society
magazine noted that according to a Deutsche Bundespost bulletin some
years ago, the 8000s and 9000s are reserved for "other German
regions".  The editor of the magazine investigated further and found
that those numbers were, in fact, being held primarily for East
Germany.  Or, as they called it in the 50s and 60s, "die sogenannte
DDR" ("the so-called 'German Democratic Republic'").

(Digression: Note the word "primarily" in the last paragraph.  It
seems obvious that not all Federal Republic bureaucrats have given up
on getting back the territories now held by Poland, as Chancellor Kohl
now has given up, albeit under pressure.)

Since the Bundespost is the same PTT that controls the phone system, I
would be surprised if some codes for exchanges haven't been set aside
as well.  I seriously doubt that both country codes would persist
(unlike the two Yemens, or Tanzania).


Steve Reed * Liberty Network, Ltd. * P.O. Box 11296 * Chicago, IL 60611
0002909785@mcimail.com