Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@brl.mil> (08/22/90)
I just now got to May 4, 1990 microfilm for the {Washington (DC) Post}.
Page A-1 has article (continued inside) about the Oct. 1, 1990
local-calling change (must then use area code on DC-area local calls
which cross area code boundaries). Comments I gleaned (opinions and
examples are only from that article):
"Whether the change will weaken the psychological ties among city and
suburbs remains to be seen." People often do NOT take such changes
kindly, but resistance is usually short-lived. In DC area, you
generally know if you are calling DC, Md., or Va.; but in Mass. when
508 was formed, you had to learn the new code by town. C&P expects
that if growth continues, Md. will need new area code in several
years, but there currently is no decision about this. Under the new
way of making local calls, someone living in Anacostia area (DC) could
have the same 7D number as someone living in Oxon Hill (Md.), just a
mile away. [ <-- note by me: this obviously puts an end to use of
area code 202 for points not right in DC proper.]
Up to now, DC area has had the "privilege" (since the 1950s, with
quotes mine) of making local calls without area code; however, in
Manhattan (NYC), you routinely use 718 area code to make local call to
Brooklyn. There is a worldwide proliferation of phone numbers, and
networks have to be reconfigured to allow more phone numbers (the
article specifically mentions the London split occurring right around
then).
Article apparently came out before the announcement about Pentagon
being put in 703 (Pentagon is physically in Virginia, but had been in
area 202, NOT in 703).
I should also mention that leading 1+ is cited as OPTIONAL in those
local calls crossing NPA line. You are REQUIRED to use it for toll
calls."Robert M. Hamer" <HAMER524@ruby.vcu.edu> (08/23/90)
On Wed, 22 Aug 90 11:01:23 EDT Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@brl.mil> writes: >Up to now, DC area has had the "privilege" (since the 1950s, with >quotes mine) of making local calls without area code; however, in >Manhattan (NYC), you routinely use 718 area code to make local call to Two weeks ago I stayed in the Crystal City Hyatt (I like Hyatts; they tend to be classy hotels) and the phone behavior was as follows: (A telephone call from Crystal City to DC proper is a local call.) When I tried to dial a local call from 703 to 202 using 9+NPA+7D on the room phone (the instructions said to use 9+ for local calls) the computer told me I had to dial an 8 first. When I called the front desk, they said I would be charged the minimum fee (a $1.25 or $1.75 surcharge; I forgot which) for the call although it was a local call. I finally gave up on trying to do things right and dialed it using 9+7D which still works, but won't as of Oct 1 if I read things right. My question is, how are other hotels adjusting to the increasing number of local calling areas which are split between area codes. Are they mostly using it as an opportunity to rip off customers? How about some of you who have recently stayed in hotels in local calling areas split between area codes telling us about your experiences, and those of you who travel to such places, trying things out?
Carl Moore (VLD/VMB) <cmoore@brl.mil> (08/24/90)
It occurs to me that you can now dial any call (within country code 1,
for international readers of the Digest) in the DC area as 1+NPA+7D.
The May 4, 1990 {Washington Post} article (excerpted & paraphrased in
very recent posting from me) cited optional 1+ for local calls across
NPA lines, and the new NPA+7D calling scheme works within your own NPA
if you are calling locally in & around DC, right?
If correct, this is beginning to answer the problem of moving speed-
dial program, etc., across NPA lines.