Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!bloom-beacon!apple!sun-barr!texsun!pollux!killer!vector!telecom-gateway From: cmoore@brl.mil (VLD/VMB) Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Area Codes - a few comments Message-ID: Date: 11 May 89 19:57:16 GMT Sender: news@vector.Dallas.TX.US Lines: 41 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 162, message 3 of 12 [Moderator's Note: This is a consolidation of four short messages on related topics sent by Mr. Moore today. PT] 706 and 905 are used for parts of Mexico, right? Also, I believe 708 will pick up Chicago SUBURBS; the city exchange stays in 312. Will that new area 903 in NE Texas get any N0X/N1X prefixes? It's just my guess that it will not; the only N0X/N1X I know of in the present 214 area is in Dallas and nearby. As is the case in the Washington area suburbs, when you assign prefixes in Dallas and suburbs you have to consider your area code and a big chunk of a neighboring area code as well. With 708,903,908 being assigned in the next 2 or 3 years, and 909,917 unused (I have no comment here regarding N00, N10, N11), you wonder about the poor souls who will end up in the first NNX area code. There have been some problems noted reaching new prefixes (not limited to N0X/N1X) and new area codes. It's also been noted that 415 area (includes San Francisco) may split later (no code announced yet, right?); that area recently prepared for N0X/N1X prefixes. Up to this point, all of the N0X/N1X I know of in Maryland and in 703 (Va.) has been in the DC calling area, which ran short of NNX. Last night, I got my hands on a Baltimore call guide of Nov. 1988, and discovered 2 such pre- fixes outside the DC calling area: 915 Baltimore city (915 in DC was for some recorded messages; don't know about this one) 303 Columbia (local call for Silver Spring, which is also local to DC & suburbs; also a local call for Baltimore city) Perhaps you'd want to set up an archive file explaining such codes (why they are not used as regular area codes--yes, I know about 411,611,911,800,700,900). Hasn't that question been asked before? [Moderator's Note: Why 411-611-911 are not used as area codes is pretty obvious, since they equal Information, Repair Bureau, and Emergency in that order. But why can't numbers like 210-310-311-511 be used? Or numbers like 410-510-710? They at least resemble area codes and would not be so confusing to a phone user. PT]