# North America running out of phone numbers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2022, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187 "2022-04-03T14:21:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cincinnatus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cincinnatus/32/7990_2.png) [@cincinnatus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cincinnatus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/21 "2022-04-04T21:01:58Z")
Why wait 20 years? All landlines could be assigned an IP address to behind the scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/22 "2022-04-04T21:34:27Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Those where the AC was the whole state, the middle digit was 0 (e.g. Arizona - 602) while those in states with multiple ACs had a 1 (Los Angeles - 213). Um, really? California also has 707, 209, 408, and 805, just off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/23 "2022-04-04T21:49:29Z")
> [@cincinnatus](#): > > Why wait 20 years? All landlines could be assigned an IP address to behind the scenes. IANA telephony engineer, but I suspect that a significant portion of landlines in the US (particularly those in older homes) are still good old-fashioned [POTS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_old_telephone_service); I have no idea how easily they could be addressed by an IP address. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/24 "2022-04-04T22:00:36Z")
My wife actually works for AT&T, they’re not ready to do this yet by any means. (Software Engineer in fact working on somewhat related stuff to this subject.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/25 "2022-04-04T22:58:00Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I suppose someday there will be no separate phone network and all phones will be Internet devices. Phone companies have somehow succeeded in letting you believe there is a difference. The difference is that “CookingWithGas”’s phone is an internet device that can be reached through an oldschool tel#. Somehow they can charge extra for that. A “landline”: that signal become a switched TCP/IP package at the first box it sees after leaving the house. (Or the last box inside the house!) Charging someone for a number (by the minute!): a good job if you can get it! I’m not talking about providing and maintaining the physical line— I’m talking about the surcharge for the “phone service” (with limited minutes! You paid for the line and now they get you to pay extra to send stuff over it!) How ridiculous is it that we can set up a video connection (Skype in 199X or so) for free (we pay, but not for individual “calls”) but we pay extra if we set up a voice connection through a legacy addressing scheme? Both connections use exactly the same infrastructure. Extra bonus ridiculousness: we let them charge extra for “international” calls. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/26 "2022-04-04T23:03:18Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > Um, really? California also has 707, 209, 408, and 805, just off the top of my head. I thought this was wrong too, but I think it was a question timing. Checking Wikipedia, Ontario started with 416 and 613 in the first tranche of area code assignments. It wasn’t until a later split that 705 was assigned. California appears to be the same, with those area codes not assigned until the late 50s. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/27 "2022-04-04T23:11:51Z")
You cannot run out of “numbers” in an arbitrary addressing scheme. Phone companies wouldn’t even have to flick a switch to euhh… switch to 11 digits or 9 digits and a letter or a combination of emoji’s. Worry about running out of IPv4 addresses. People have enormous inertia there. Still too many systems rely on an addressing scheme that was obsoleted in ~’97. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2022, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/28 "2022-04-04T23:21:36Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > Um, really? California also has 707, 209, 408, and 805, just off the top of my head. Now, sure but in 1947 the three area codes were - 213 - Southern California - 415 - Central California - 916 - Northern California The original rules are long, long gone except not beginning with 0 or 1. About the only other vestige remaining are the entire state = area codes for Maine, Idaho, Delaware, West Virginia, Wyoming, Rhode Island, Montana, New Brunswick\*, New Hampshire, South Dakota, North Dakota, New Foundland and Labrador\*, Vermont, Nova Scotia and PEI\*, and Alaska (but for one small town, Hyder). Some of these have another AC overlaid to cover cell phone numbers. \*The Maritimes are weird in that 906 covered them all and was the only AC to cross state or province lines. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/29 "2022-04-07T13:41:49Z")
Speaking US-centrically, country codes could truly be assigned, so that for instance Canada, Bahamas, Bermuda, etc could be assigned their own unique country codes and all those area codes currently in use in those places could be used in the US, ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/30 "2022-04-07T13:47:41Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > As a point of reference, there are technically 9,000,000,000 numbers available as we don’t start numbers with 0. Is that because “0” is reserved for calling the operator? Who calls the operator? I don’t think I’ve ever dialed “0” for the operator in my life. In fact, does the position still even exist? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/31 "2022-04-07T13:57:37Z")
That was the reason and I know I use to dial 0 for the Operator to make a collect call back in the dark ages or to get a number. This was before 411. I don’t know what dialing 0 does now. But I know it is unlikely to get you directly to an operator. I think it is service dependent now and most likely leads to a voice tree answer. * * * I missed the fact that no area codes started with a 1 either. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187/32 "2022-04-07T15:12:02Z")
011 is to start an international call. I don’t know what else an initial zero is used for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-america-running-out-of-phone-numbers/962187.md?page=1)