shaw@uunet.uu.net (Guy Shaw) (09/20/89)
I have a client who wanted to apply for an 800 number which they had picked in order to advertise their toll-free number by its "spelling". The number they picked required the prefix 646. When they tried to apply, they were told that no 800-646-XXXX numbers were available. When they inquired further, they were told that this was true, not just for their area and their normal long-distance carrier, but that no place in the United States and no long-distance company had such a number, and that they were not yet allowed to be allocated. They said something about a committee of seven people and about some independent agency that decides what numbers get allocated to what LD companies, and when, all for the sake of fairness. Sorry to be so vague, this information is second-hand. Can anyone tell me if this is true, and if so, what is this independent agency, where did they get their authority, what is their charter, and what, if any, method is there to their allocation of numbers? Is it possible to reserve an 800 number in advance? Also, how long does it usually take, from the time you apply for an 800 number, to get it put into service? That is, assuming no problems like trying to reserve unavailable numbers. Thanks in advance. Guy Shaw Paralogics paralogics!shaw@uunet.uu.net or uunet!paralogics!shaw [Moderator's Note: The 'independent agency' is called Bellcore. Some Bellcore people are readers of this Digest. Bellcore came from the old Bell System, and specifically from AT&T. In years past, AT&T had the duty to assign all area codes and prefixes. Since divestiture, Bellcore does this. They assign prefixes to telephone companies and long distance carriers upon application for same. I don't know whether 800-646 is assigned or not; I'll take your word for it. It will not be assigned until Bellcore chooses to do so, and then, all telcos everywhere will be notified to program their machinery to respond to 800-646 in the same way. When it gets assigned to some (most likely) long distance company, they will turn it on at their leisure, and having done so, you may then apply *to that company* for an account. Until then, you'll have to settle for some other number. There is nothing your local telco or any long distance carrier can do about it. Perhaps someone from Bellcore will discuss this further in email with correspondent. PT]
krone@presto.ig.com (Larry Krone) (09/22/89)
Could somebody post the current 800 prefix assignments to this group (or email them to me).... Thanx, Larry [Moderator's Note: It has been awhile since we ran that chart of prefix allocations. I would run it again, but it is probably out of date. Does anyone have a more recent version than from early this year? PT]