4 ms·
My mother explained this to me (in the '70s or '80s) when I was complaining about them changing or phone number... they took the first three digits of our seven
by jmull 3y ago
My mother explained this to me (in the '70s or '80s) when I was complaining about them changing or phone number... they took the first three digits of our seven digit number for something. Her number used to be "Tuxedo" (TX) something, something, something.
I don't know if she joined the "Anti-Digit Dialing League" that the article mentions, but I could tell she liked she old number.
Her point was that they'd changed the system before and surely keep changing the system (indeed, some years later they changed our area code).
I wonder what the next change will be?
EDIT: searched... Tuxedo was actually TUxedo, or 88. Also: nemonics can really work. It's weird I can remember the first two digits of a phone number I head about once, that had stopped existing before I was born.
- xenadu02 3y agoBefore more advanced computerized call routing and SS7 signaling changes area codes had to map to one specific non-overlapping region. So when a metro area needed more exchange prefixes they had to split the area code and some subset of customers got pushed onto a new area code. In more modern times they assign an "overlay": multiple area codes can be assigned to the same region so there is no need for splits. Actually the system isn't really hierarchical anymore. Thanks to number portability optimizations any switch can lookup the destination switch for a 10 digit number. Thanks to faster computers and larger storage that isn't the problem it once was.
- toast0 3y agoThere's plans for eventual expansion, [1], although I wouldn't bet on any of the current plans to be the one that's eventually chosen. Current growth levels seem to give us capacity until beyond 2050. [2] Number expansion does regularly happen around the world; it's not fun, but it's part of life. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Numbering_Plan_expansion#Industry_recommendations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Numbering_Plan_... [2] https://www.nationalnanpa.com/reports/October_2020_NANP_Exhaust_AnalysisFinal.pdf https://www.nationalnanpa.com/reports/October_2020_NANP_Exha...
- dotancohen 3y agoWe'll all be on IPv6 by then!