Kenneth_R_Jongsma@hub.eecs.nwu.edu (07/06/89)
The following article was in tonight's local paper. It's attributed to
Associated Press:
Tokyo to Add 8th Digit to Phone Numbers
Move over Paris, Tokyo will join you in the ranks of cities with eight
digit phone numbers.
Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corp. said Tuesday the change from seven
digit phone numbers in Tokyo will take place January 1, 1991. Subscribers
will add a 3 at the beginning of their seven digit numbers.
The national telephone utility said a shortage of exchange numbers began
in 1981 as demand increased for facsimile and microcomputer communications
on top of demand for regular telephone lines.
Some eight digit phone numbers were given to pocket pages in 1987, and in
1988 some new subscribers for regular telephone service received eight digit
numbers, NTT said, but by early 1991 the shortage will be accute.
(End of Article)
This started bothering me when I first heard France was going to eight digit
numbers a few years back. It's probably just my American Provincialism, but
it seems as if "the rest of the world" is ignoring the Bell Labs studies on
how easy it is recall numbers. I figured it was the French desire to different
from the rest of the world, even though they had already implemented the
equivilent of an area code (city codes). Now the Japanese are going that way.
What am I missing here? What's wrong with a "downtown" city code and a
"suburb" city code? If a country doesn't need a full up 3 digit area code,
the equipment could be easily programmed for less, but the concept of an
area (city) code makes a lot more sense than making everyone dial (and
remember!) and extra digit.
Ken @ cup.portal.comjimmy@denwa.uucp (Jim Gottlieb) (07/09/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0224m01@vector.dallas.tx.us> Kenneth_R_Jongsma writes: > > Tokyo to Add 8th Digit to Phone Numbers > >What am I missing here? What's wrong with a "downtown" city code and a >"suburb" city code? Well, Tokyo already has that. The '3' area code is only for the central 23-ku central area. The rest of the municipality of Tokyo has other area codes. But that is not to say that they _couldn't_ further divide it. I guess they could split it North-South or inside-outside the Yamanote loop. Or split it into four quadrants as related to the Imperial Palace. -- Jim Gottlieb E-Mail: <jimmy@denwa.uucp> or <jimmy@pic.ucla.edu> or <attmail!denwa!jimmy> V-Mail: (213) 551-7702 Fax: 478-3060 The-Real-Me: 824-5454 [Moderator's Note: In Monday's Digest, two recent articles from the papers demonstrating the frivilous and foolish uses of that new toy, the fax machine. Have a nice weekend! PT]
gast@cs.ucla.edu (David Gast) (07/10/89)
> From: Kenneth_R_Jongsma@hub.eecs.nwu.edu > Subject: Tokyo Goes to 8 Digits > Tokyo to Add 8th Digit to Phone Numbers > Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corp. said Tuesday the change from seven >digit phone numbers in Tokyo will take place January 1, 1991. Subscribers >will add a 3 at the beginning of their seven digit numbers. >What am I missing here? What's wrong with a "downtown" city code and a >"suburb" city code? If a country doesn't need a full up 3 digit area code, I did not see the article in the paper, but I have double checked with a friend in Tokyo via e-mail before sending this mail. First off, it should be noted that area codes in Japan like many other countries vary with where you are calling. Thus, the *area code* for Tokyo is currently 03, but the area code for Mitaka just to the west of Tokyo is 0422. I am sure that some cities have two digit area codes, but I cannot name them with certainty off the top of my head. [ BTW, the leading zero is not a typo; in Japan a single leading zero indicates a long distance number; a separate number is dialed to get an operator.] As another poster pointed out, the 03 area code is only used for "central Tokyo", not the entire metropolitan area. Thus, there are many area codes in the suburban area. I don't know how many area codes are within a 60 minute or 90 minute commute from central Tokyo although many if not all of the numbers are only 6 digit numbers. I would guess there are possibly up to 100 area codes surrounding Tokyo. (Some of these are however, presumably currently unsigned). My source indicates that the 03 area code will be broken into smaller area codes, Tokyo will not go to eight digit numbers. If you think about it, however, the difference can be merely semantic. Thus, it seems that all current Tokyo area codes will change from 03 to 033. Whether the relatively small geographic area of Tokyo will be subdivided or not is in may respects irrelevant. It may be different from U.S practice, but that does not make it bad or good; the answer to that implicit question depends on how the change is implemented. [For example, I live in area code 213 in the city of Los Angeles; if you were to call information (at least from LA) and ask for David Gast in LA, you would be told that I do not exist because the teleco thinks I live in *West* Los Angeles even though the PO says I live in Los Angeles, CA 90025. That is, if directory assistance can handle all Tokyo numbers (03x), not subdividing a small geographical area might be preferable to the LA situation where GTE/PacBell cannot even handle one area code properly. I do not, however, know what will happen to the central Tokyo area code except that it will become 2 digits instead of one. (Even though I live in LA, I do not propose to know the exact demarcation line between 213 and 818 in LA).] BTW, if you think about it, merely adding a 3 to the beginning of all numbers does not add any numbers to those possible to dial. David Gast gast@cs.ucla.edu {uunet,ucbvax,rutgers}!{ucla-cs,cs.ucla.edu}!gast P.S. Nippon tends to be a rather conservative and militaristic reading for the characters which can also be read *Nihon*. As I recall, the official name of this telephone company is NTT. If you suspected that the two T correspond to English words and not Japanese words, you are correct. The Japanese names for the two T's are Denwa Denshin (Telephone Telegraph). [Moderator's Note: An example of the complete opposite of the 213/818 situation described by Mr. Gast is in metropolitan Kansas City, MO/KS. An inquiry can be directed to either 816-555-1212 or 913-555-1212 with equal results. Call either one; get information on either side of the river. PT]
das@cs.ucla.edu (David Smallberg) (07/12/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0229m02@vector.dallas.tx.us> the moderator writes: > >[Moderator's Note: An example of the complete opposite of the 213/818 >situation described by Mr. Gast is in metropolitan Kansas City, MO/KS. An >inquiry can be directed to either 816-555-1212 or 913-555-1212 with equal >results. Call either one; get information on either side of the river. PT] Either side of the river. Feh! How about the ocean: At least through the early 1970's, information calls for Hawaii (808-555-1212) actually went to Granada Hills, California (a suburb of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley). Friends were amused by the following: Me: [dial 808-555-1212] Operator: What island, please? Me: I'd like the number of the Shakey's Pizza at Reseda and Devonshire. [The Shakey's was near the phone company office, and the operators were sure to know it.] Operator: Uh, you should really dial 411 for that. Me: Oh, sorry. Could you look it up anyway, please? Operator: Well, all right ... that number is XXX-XXXX. The story I heard was that the weather in Honolulu was posted in the office, since so many callers would ask "How's the weather out there?" I also had heard that Alaska information was handled in or near Seattle and Carribean islands in Florida. I don't know what the situation is today. -- David Smallberg, das@cs.ucla.edu, ...!{uunet,ucbvax,rutgers}!cs.ucla.edu!das
roy@uunet.uu.net (Roy Silvernail) (07/16/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0232m07@vector.dallas.tx.us>, das@cs.ucla.edu (David Smallberg) writes: > In article <telecom-v09i0229m02@vector.dallas.tx.us> the moderator writes: > > > > I also had heard that Alaska information was handled in or near Seattle and > Carribean islands in Florida. I don't know what the situation is today. > Since I moved to Alaska some 19 years ago, the information operators have been in the state, at least. Outlying areas such as Nome are serviced from Anchorage or Fairbanks. (Nome's information calls are done in Fairbanks) In years past, though, Nome's telephone information was located in one of the local taxi companies, and at one time the taxi company was headquartered out of a local bar. Thus, the bartender was the information operator. Roy M. Silvernail Sub-Arctic Programmer-at-large UUCP: uunet!comcon!roy (spif sig Real Soon Now) [my account, my opinions]
das@cs.ucla.edu (David Smallberg) (07/18/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0240m07@vector.dallas.tx.us> comcon!roy@uunet.uu.net (Roy Silvernail) writes: >In article <telecom-v09i0232m07@vector.dallas.tx.us>, das@cs.ucla.edu (David >Smallberg) writes: >> I also had heard that Alaska information was handled in or near Seattle and >> Carribean islands in Florida. I don't know what the situation is today. >> >Since I moved to Alaska some 19 years ago, the information operators have >been in the state, at least. Outlying areas such as Nome are serviced from >Anchorage or Fairbanks. (Nome's information calls are done in Fairbanks) What I meant, of course*, was that to save communications costs, information calls to Alaska or the Caribbean islands *from the 48 states* were handled in Seattle and Florida (so I had heard; Hawaii was definitely handled in Granada Hills, Calif.). When you say "the information operators have been in the state", do you mean for other than calls originating in Alaska? (If Alaskans called Hawaii information, or vice versa, where did the calls go?) *I guess my "lower-48ism" is showing, using a phrasing that presumes Alaska is "out there". -- David Smallberg, das@cs.ucla.edu, ...!{uunet,ucbvax,rutgers}!cs.ucla.edu!das