dan@sics.se (Dan Sahlin) (07/25/89)
Within a couple of years all telephone numbers in the outer Stockholm areas will go from 5-digit to 8-digit numbers. They will all be integrated into the Stockholm area code (08) where the other numbers are 6 or 7 digits. There are about 1.5 inhabitants in this area (and about the same number of telephones), so a wisely designed number plan using just 7 digits should be possible. For some reason, I find it much harder to remember an 8-digit number than a 7 digit number, so I don't like those plans at all. I've read that Paris and Denmark have already changed into 8 digit numbers, and that Norway is planning to do the same. Are there more countries going to get 8 digit numbers in the near future? /Dan Sahlin email: dan@sics.se PS. Isn't it about time that the world would agree on the international access code, i.e. the code that you replace the +-sign with in your international telephone number? In Sweden (and Denmark) we dial 009, but many in many countries in Europe it is the more logical 00.
henry@garp.mit.edu (Henry Mensch) (07/26/89)
>PS. Isn't it about time that the world would agree on the international >access code, i.e. the code that you replace the +-sign with in your >international telephone number? In Sweden (and Denmark) we dial 009, >but many in many countries in Europe it is the more logical 00. Why is 00 more logical than 009 (or 011 in Canada and the US), or 0011 (in Australia)? # Henry Mensch / <henry@garp.mit.edu> / E40-379 MIT, Cambridge, MA # <henry@tts.lth.se> / {ames,mit-eddie}!henry / <henry@sics.bu.oz.au>
euatdt@euas11g.ericsson.se (Torsten Dahlkvist) (07/27/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0256m02@vector.dallas.tx.us> henry@garp.mit.edu writes: >Why is 00 more logical than 009 (or 011 in Canada and the US), or 0011 >(in Australia)? Because in most countries (outside Northern America), all area codes begin with a 0, indicating the start of "national" dialling. Another 0 would (logically) imply an even larger numbering plan - "international". Simlpe? If/when we get interplanetary dialling the logical prefix would be 000. I shudder to think what four zeroes would mean... /Torsten Torsten Dahlkvist ! "I am not now, nor have I ever ELLEMTEL Telecommunication Laboratories ! been, intimately related to P.O. Box 1505, S-125 25 ALVSJO, SWEDEN ! Dweezil Zappa!" Tel: +46 8 727 3788 ! - "Wierd" Al Yankowitz [Moderator's Note: I don't think too many countries have our penchant here in the USA for pulling zero to get the operator either. Right/wrong?? PT]
euatdt@euas11g.ericsson.se (Torsten Dahlkvist) (07/31/89)
>[Moderator's Note: I don't think too many countries have our penchant here >in the USA for pulling zero to get the operator either. Right/wrong?? PT] Quite right. As far as I know, the zero-prefix for non-local dialling is by far the most common one. That means that dialling a single zero and waiting will just get you a "non-complete" error, whichever way the local admin handles that. The number in Sweden to get operator service is "000" for domestic calls. (We'll have to give that up when we get phones on other planets :-) There may be some connection between the numbers chosen for certain common services (like "operator" or "non-local dialling" and the actual design of the old rotary-switch dial of ancient days. See my next posting for more on that subject! /Torsten Torsten Dahlkvist ! "I am not now, nor have I ever ELLEMTEL Telecommunication Laboratories ! been, intimately related to P.O. Box 1505, S-125 25 ALVSJO, SWEDEN ! Dweezil Zappa!" Tel: +46 8 727 3788 ! - "Wierd" Al Yankowitz
kiravuo@kampi.hut.fi (Timo Kiravuo) (07/31/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0253m03@vector.dallas.tx.us> dan@sics.se (Dan Sahlin) writes: >Are there more countries going to get 8 digit numbers in the near >future? Not Finland, at least, we still have varying lengths all over the country. My home number is 676 076 and work number 451 4328, even though they both are in the same (local) company. In some other places you can have numbers of only four digits. This is partly because we still have many private phone co-operatives. >PS. Isn't it about time that the world would agree on the international >access code, i.e. the code that you replace the +-sign with in your >international telephone number? In Sweden (and Denmark) we dial 009, >but many in many countries in Europe it is the more logical 00. Good idea. In Finland it is 990 to get out. Would you care to swap that 9 for one 0, would be easier for us both. :-) A trivia bit. In many companies with local switches you have to dial 0 to get out. In Finland at least. But on a pulse system the 0 is the longest number, so that a 1 would make more sense, to save time. The story goes that this comes from the Italy, where the inpatient Italians would start to hit the phone hook and accidentally get a 0, when they could not get an line out right away. -- Timo Kiravuo Helsinki University of Technology, Computing Center kiravuo@hut.fi sorvi::kiravuo kiravuo%hut.fi@uunet.uu.net work: 90-451 4328 home: 90-676 076
dave@uunet.uu.net (Dave Horsfall) (08/07/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0260m07@vector.dallas.tx.us>, Torsten Dahlkvist <euatdt@euas11g.ericsson.se> writes: | | If/when we get interplanetary dialling the logical prefix would be 000. I hope not - that's the emergency number here in Oz! Why did America choose 911 anyway? Australia is 000, Great Britain is 999. What other codes are there? -- Dave Horsfall (VK2KFU), Alcatel STC Australia, dave@stcns3.stc.oz dave%stcns3.stc.oz.AU@uunet.UU.NET, ...munnari!stcns3.stc.oz.AU!dave
albert%endor@husc6.harvard.edu (David Albert) (08/08/89)
}Why did America choose 911 anyway? Australia is 000, Great Britain }is 999. What other codes are there? In Israel, 100 is police, 101 is fire, 102 is ambulance. David Albert / UUCP: ...!harvard!albert / INTERNET: albert@harvard.harvard.edu --"You carry water from a mile away? How can you do that?" --"That's where the water is."