andy9 wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 1:44am:

I had spotted the pattern, but also in that pattern are 811, 822, 833, 844 & 899 (altho' I now note that none of those appears to be in use).  My point wasn't really that this is particularly confusing, but rather that it is no less confusing than the UK system where all 080x numbers are free and other 08x numbers are not free.
(Incidentally, according to the database on the NANPA.com site, 855 is in use.)

andy9 wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 1:44am:

I stand corrected on that, but in my defence (not defense! ) will say that I was going on what mikeinnc said:
mikeinnc wrote on Mar 14^th, 2006 at 6:21pm:

In the UK, all 09x are premium rate; in the US 900 is premium rate and other 9xx codes are normal area codes.  Again, fairly straight-forward, but no more so than the UK codes.

On a different tack, when calling a Canadian area code or another non-US (e.g. Carribean) area code from the USA, is the call charge the same as calling a long-distance USA area code?  Also, how do you know which calls are local (and therefore free) and which are long-distance?

(For the avoidance of doubt, I will not defend the extortionate charges made for 084x & 087x calls in the UK, nor the marketing of these as 'local' or 'national', and personally I think they should all be 09xx numbers - but I just don't see that, overall, the  N.American system is any clearer or simpler as others have claimed.)

Not only that, with some providers it's possible to call almost all US numbers free from UK, but not UK 08 numbers.

Some reference material from the NANP annual report 2004:

http://www.nanpa.com/reports/NANP_AR_2004.pdf

Area Code Inventory

NPA codes are in NXX format, where N is any digit 2-9 and X
is any digit 0-9, yielding 8*10*10 = 800 combinations. Of these,
119 are not assignable or have been set aside by the Industry
Numbering Committee (INC) for special purposes. These 119
codes are listed below.


N11 (8) Abbreviated dialing

N9X (80) Reserved for use during expansion
of the NANP

37X and 96X (20) Reserved by the INC for future use where
contiguous blocks of codes are required

555 and 950 (2) Not used as NPA codes to avoid
possible confusion

880-887 and 889 (9) Set aside for next series of toll-free codes.

Subtracting 119 from 800 leaves 681 assignable NPA codes. Of
these, 366 have been assigned. Of these 366, 326 are in service
and 40 are awaiting introduction. Of the 326 NPA codes in
service, 316 are geographic and 10 are non-geographic.
Of the 681 assignable NPA codes, 315 are currently unassigned.
Of these codes, 49 are easily recognizable codes (ERCs)
currently allocated for non-geographic use, and 266 are
general-purpose codes. Of these 266, 163 are reserved (*1) for use
as future geographic codes, leaving 103 available, unreserved
general-purpose codes.

Of the 49 unassigned ERCs, 12 are reserved (*2), leaving 37 available.


NPA Reserved Codes are Listed Below.

220
221
223
232
235
236
238
241
247
249
257
258
259
261
263
271
272
273
274
279
280
286
287
326
327
328
329
332
343
346
353
354
357
359
363
365
367
368
382
384
387
389
421
427
428
429
431
436
437
439
445
448
449
451
453
457
458
460
461
463
468
471
472
474
476
481
483
485
486
487
489
522
531
533
534
535
536
537
539
544
546
548
558
565
566
568
572
575
576
577
579
581
582
584
587
588
622
625
629
633
634
637
639
640
644
645
652
655
665
672
673
676
677
680
681
683
685
686
688
699
721
728
729
730
735
739
742
743
745
746
748
749
750
751
752
753
761
762
768
782
789
820
821
824
825
826
837
838
839
840
841
851
854
861
871
873
875
879
921
923
924
926
927
929
930
934
938
942
945
946
948
953
974
981
982
986



*1 These codes have been designated for the relief of NPAs that NRUF
predicts
will exhaust in the next 10 years. Please note that NANPA previously
reserved codes for those NPAs projected to exhaust in the next 20 years, but
INC agreed in 2004 to reduce the time frame to 10 years. Also included are
20
additional codes reserved for use in Canada at the request of the CRTC.

*2 These include six codes reserved for Personal Communications Service
(500)
expansion and six codes reserved for Canada. Canada has also reserved 699,
which is counted as an expansion code.


Non-Geographic NPAs in Service

The table below lists the non-geographic NPAs in service as
of December 31, 2004, along with the service for which each
is used.

NPA Service

456 Inbound International
500 Personal Communications Service
600 Canadian Services
700 Interexchange Carrier Services
710 US Government
800 Toll-Free
866 Toll-Free
877 Toll-Free
888 Toll-Free
900 Premium Services


NPA codes 855, 844, 833, and 822 have been assigned for use as
toll free codes and will be introduced as needed.

NPA code 456 allows callers to select a carrier for international
calls terminating in a NANP country. Carriers implement this
service by activating 456 numbers in each country of origin.

500 numbers are used for "follow me" personal communications
services. Personal communications service is defined more
formally as a set of capabilities that allows some combination of
personal mobility, terminal mobility and service
profile management.

NPA code 700 was assigned in 1983 for use by all interexchange
carriers. Each carrier has the use of all 7.92 million numbers in
the 700 NPA. When a call is made to a 700 number, the local
exchange carrier passes the call to the caller's interexchange
carrier, selected either through presubscription or override.

Note that 700 numbers, unlike other NANP numbers,
may terminate in different ways, depending on how the
interexchange carrier has allocated the numbers.

900 numbers are used for premium services, with the cost of
each 900 call billed to the calling party.

In 2004, NPA codes 880, 881 and 882 were returned to the NPA
inventory and are now set-aside for future toll free service.

These codes were used for "paid toll-free service," a service
that permitted callers in one NANP countries to call toll-free
numbers in another NANP country by dialing 880 in place of
800, 881 in place of 888, or 882 in place of 877.

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

I thought you usually had to dial 11 digits except for local calls?

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

same as UK.

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

But you have to look it up, if you haven't already learnt how to dial a particular number.  In the UK, you can just dial the number as given - you don't have to look in the 'phone book to find how to dial a number.  If it's the same area code, you can omit the area code, otherwise you include it - simple!

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

Precisely my point - there are anomalies just as there are here.  It's the anomalies that remove some of the simplicity and clarity - in both systems.

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

I've heard "overlay codes" mentioned - what are they?

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

No-one has yet demonstrated to me exactly how or where it is "vastly superior", whereas I've explained in an earlier post why I think it has just as many anomalies and oddities as the UK numbering system.

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

How is that different from UK.  We have:

Emergency number (112 & 999);
Geographic numbers (equivalent to your Local + Long-distance) (01x & 02x);
Mobile (077x, 078x, 079x);
Freephone (080x);
'Premium' numbers (which you also have) (084x, 087x, 09x);
Personal numbers (070x).

You have:

Emergency number (911);
Geographic numbers (Local or Long-distance) (no straight definition - everything that isn't included elsewhere));
Mobile (same as Geo numbers);
Freephone (800, 855, 866, 877, 888, 88x) (simpler or clearer than 080x?);
'Premium' numbers (which you also have) (900) (yes, better than our mixture);
Personal numbers (500, 522, 533, 544, 566, 577 ,588) (simpler or clearer than 070x?).

(I know neither of the above is comprehensive, but I think it illustrates the point.)

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

But it's the atypical / unusual ones that catch people out.

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

I wouldn't attempt to argue otherwise - but that's to do with the type of regulation, not with the numbering system.

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

Again, I wouldn't dispute that 084x & 087x are anomalies in our numbering system.  But they can't be confused with standard geo numbers because no geo numbers begin 08.
I didn't say, the UK system doesn't have anomalies - just that I don't think its anomalies are any worst than the US anomalies!  Your 08xx toll-free and 05xx personal numbers are interspersed with standard area codes, whereas ours are in 'stand-alone' ranges.

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

Agreed - but that's to do with the tarriff plans, not the numbering system.

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

Likewise - but that's to do with the customer service ethos, not the numbering system.

idb wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 2:39pm:

So do we these days.  And with 1899 ANY call costs 3p irrespective of the length of the call or the time of day.
In fact, when I speak to my brother in Canada, he prefers me to call him (or call him back) because its cheaper (4p per call + 0.5p per minute).

For geographic & international calls I think we now get a fairly good rate in the UK.

... Continued in next message ...

trevord wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 4:05pm:

I've edited that post, for those to whom it wasn't clear - ie from UK.

But actually I don't use any of those providers yet.

trevord wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 5:01pm:
This will clearly depend upon the provider! For example, my local service is provided by Bell South, although I do not use it for long distance calls. On its dollar plan ($1/month), LDD calls within the US are 10c/min (out of state), 9c/min within state, to Canada (with dollar international plan) 7c/min and to the UK 9c/min (geographic) and 22c/min (+447 and +448). A different plan cuts domestic LDD to 5c/min and other plans are all inclusive. There is no simple answer - call costs will vary, however it is easy obtaining the info. Try that in the UK with 0844 12 and 0844 23 and 0844 34 etc where call charges vary depending on the fifth, sixth and possibly seventh digit. Look on cellular providers' web sites and try to determine call costs to these numbers in advance and see how difficult it is. Here, because we don't have this nonsense, call charges are clear an easy to find!

Dave wrote on Mar 15^th, 2006 at 5:45pm:
The local calling areas are always listed in the residential phone directory with the relevant numbering blocks that are considered local. If I make a call within my own area code that is outside the local charge area using seven digit dialing, a message results asking me to redial with 1 + area code then the seven digits. Local dialing does have a distance aspect to it, but I do not believe it is as rigid as with the old BT 35 mile/56 km system.

In metro areas within the same state, and Orlando is one that springs to mind, local charging may take place even though eleven digit dialing is required (407 and 321 area codes). In other metro areas that are bi and tri state, again local calling areas may cross area code boundaries and state boundaries - the DC, Virginia and Maryland area is a good example where calls from a Washington suburb in VA to a 202 number in DC proper may be treated as local.

This may sound complex, however it is always detailed in the first few pages of the phone book as to what constitutes a local call.

For local calls from my provider, they are unmetered. For calls within my area code that are outside the local charge area, calls are charged at a flat rate per call (it's either 10c, 20c or 25c, I can't recall without getting an old phone bill, and I'm not concerned about the charge). Long distance will depend upon the given LDD plan, if any.