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From: pc@ctt.ctt.bellcore.com (Peter Clitherow)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: 215 Area Code Loses "1" per Newspaper 'Reporter'
Message-ID: <15649@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 21 Dec 90 18:58:00 GMT
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In article <15537@accuvax.nwu.edu> sba8_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu
(Scott Barnes) writes:

> I have heard from a different source that Bell of PA intends to
> implement exchange codes of the type "XXX", so that exchanges such as
> 131 will now be possible.  It is certainly not a case where 1+ dialing
> is being more stringently enforced.

This sounds totally amazing!  How, other than a timeout such as is
needed for international calls are LD calls to other NPAs to be
discriminated?

Consider, that if PA implements the 131 exchange, we could have:

131-2xxx as a local number, and

1312-xxx-xxxx as a LD call to Chicago.  I.e. the exchange must wait
until a timeout, before completing the first (local) call?!

Has anyone else heard of this?

pc


[Moderator's Note: Well, you know the '#' symbol is almost universally
available on touch tone phones these days. Known as the octothorpe and
sometimes as a carriage return -- which I guess is functionally what
it does -- it has long served as a time-out signal when entering
international numbers, calling the local '0' operator (in some
places), and when entering just the PIN of your calling card number
(when calling the number where the card is assigned). There is no
reason people couldn't be trained to stick it on the end of all
dialing as a signal they are finished. Then, *any combination* could
be a local number, no?    PAT]