# Creating more phone numbers: a modest proposal

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-more-phone-numbers-a-modest-proposal/388452>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [January 18, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-more-phone-numbers-a-modest-proposal/388452 "2007-01-18T14:52:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-more-phone-numbers-a-modest-proposal/388452/21 "2007-01-19T02:13:47Z")

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[QUOTE=Absolute]  
When’s that edit getting here?  
[/QUOTE]  
WAG: not until well after we actually have those 667 million billion IP addresses for every mm^2 of the Earth’s surface. 😉

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2007, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creating-more-phone-numbers-a-modest-proposal/388452/22 "2007-01-19T11:01:09Z")

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[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir]  
Very interesting link, **mks57**. As I read it, depending on a lot of factors including the development of new technologies or changes in social patterns, they project the exhaustion of currently-available phone numbers sometime between 2024 and 2038.  
[/QUOTE]

2038, huh? So we’ll run out of phone numbers just as all the UNIX machines crash. Interesting times…

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