Subject: Re: 416/905
From: [email-masked] (Mark Brader)
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 95 00:13:35 GMT
Newsgroups: tor.general

Joe Clark ([email-masked]) writes:
> Bell elected to reserve the initial 1 as a toll marker. (That applies even
> to "toll-free" 800 numbers-- *someone* is paying for the call.) The only
> other city I know with that practice is Baltimore.

According to a table posted to comp.dcom.telecom by Greg Monti last
summer, the "initial 1 means toll call" rule was in effect in 88 area
codes in the US, and all 16 area codes in Canada:

  203 204 205 206 208 210 214 216 218 219 301 302 303 305 306 307 308 313
  314 316 317 318 319 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 409 410 413 414 416 417
  418 419 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 512 513 514 515 517 519 601
  602 604 605 606 608 610 612 613 614 615 616 617 701 702 703 704 705 706
  709 712 713 715 719 801 802 803 804 806 807 808 809 810 812 813 816 817
  819 901 902 903 904 905 906 907 910 912 913 915 918 919

Now that area codes where the middle digit is neither 0 nor 1 have been
introduced (area codes 334, 360, and 630 went into service this week),
all areas using the "initial 1 means toll call" rule must dial long
distance calls within their area code as 11 digits, not 8 digits as was
formerly used in many places.

The alternative rule, "initial 1 means that an area code follows",
was in use in at least 35 area codes in the US:

  201 207 209 212 213 215 217 304 309 310 315 408 412 415 510 516 518 603
  607 609 618 619 707 714 716 717 718 805 814 815 818 908 909 914 916

Some area codes cover a small enough area that there are no long-distance
calls within them, so that the two rules can be distinguished only by
the dialing of premium numbers like 976-XXXX.  Greg's table gives that
information only for some area codes, which are included in the appropriate
lists above.  The remaining 4 area codes are:

  202 312 708 917

Note Joe said "the only other *city*"; the area codes in the last two
lists are in fact largely concentrated in the most populous states,
including New York, California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania.  So there's
a negative correlation in the US between "1 means toll" and large cities.

I don't know which lists the three new area codes belong in.
-- 
Mark Brader         "I can direct dial today a man my parents warred with.
[email-masked]           They wanted to kill him, I want to sell software to him."
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto                                 -- Brad Templeton

This article is in the public domain.