# Why do I have to dial 1 for long distance now that it's ten digit dialing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633 "2008-11-14T00:34:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![abel29a](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@abel29a](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abel29a)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/41 "2010-07-18T00:38:25Z")
Slight hijack, out of curiosity. Long distance calls in the US, what is the common distance before it changes from local to long distance? is it a inter-state thing or something else? Would it be more expensive to, say call, from one state to another than between two cities in the same state, even if the distance for the inter-state call is shorter? We had local/distance calls in Norway up to about… oh 15 years ago, but when we changed to our eight digit system and area codes became part of the full number you’d have to dial anyway, the pricing system was changed so that all calls no matter where in Norway cost the same. This also enabled us to actually keep our land line numbers when moving, if one so wanted, as the “area” code part of the number no longer represented a call to a special area. (This of course being more or less a moot point now, as “nobody” has land lines anymores, seeing as cell phones is almost as cheap.) Altough I can get the huge expanse of the US makes for some fairly long distances, wouldn’t it make more sense to ditch the local/long distance thingy and just charge the same no matter who you’re calling? I believe most of norther Europe at least has adopted this model. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/42 "2010-07-18T00:51:27Z")
> [@cal303](#): > > My question is why would you NOT want to know the number you are calling is long distance versus local??? If a call is long distance I’d rather know so if I don’t want to pay for the call I don’t have to…or I can make an intelligent decision not to talk for an hour. I know a lot of people have unlimited long distance now, but I find it odd you would be bothered by the phone company to letting you know the number you are calling is not local. Not everything in 905/289 is a local call. AND I think its crap that big states like New York, California and Illinois actually allow the phone companies to get away with this. Can you imagine they actually expect you to look on their website to find out if a number is local or not when they could easily program it in their switch? :dubious: But in a ten-digit toll-alerting area where all calls can be dialled with 1+, you can still find that out. Just dial without the 1. If it doesn’t work, the call is not local. The inconvenience arises when local calls _must be dialled_ without 1, and long-distance calls _must_ be dialled with 1, and _there’s no way to tell which is which before you dial_. There’s no way of telling, because it’s dependent on where you’re calling from, where you’re calling to, what phone company you’re using, and what plan you’re on. In the old landline monopoly days, Bell used to publish this information in the directory: a listing for each locality of what neighbouring central offices could be dialled as a local call. (“If you’re in 668 Whitby, you can dial 430, 431, 432, 433, 434 Oshawa, and 686 Brooklin as a local call…”) They don’t publish this information any more. And it’s probably different if you’re on Rogers, Telus, or Primus landline. Then there are cellphones, where people typically get plans that include so many minutes of calling to any number in the provice/the country/a group of countries. ---
**Author:** ![sharding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@sharding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sharding)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/43 "2010-07-18T01:14:25Z")
> [@abel29a](#): > > Slight hijack, out of curiosity. Long distance calls in the US, what is the common distance before it changes from local to long distance? is it a inter-state thing or something else? Would it be more expensive to, say call, from one state to another than between two cities in the same state, even if the distance for the inter-state call is shorter? This is a really old thread, but… I don’t know if there is one “common” distance. It’s definitely smaller than a single state, and it’s not purely based on distance. There’s a city about ten miles from my house that is a long distance call on my landline phone, while another (bigger) city 20 miles away is a local call. We were told that we were allowed to have one of the two in our local calling area, but not both. I’m frequently annoyed when I try to call a business just down the road and it’s long distance (and we don’t have long distance service on our landline, so it means I need to either go find a calling card or a cell phone). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/44 "2010-07-18T01:17:14Z")
> [@abel29a](#): > > Slight hijack, out of curiosity. Long distance calls in the US, what is the common distance before it changes from local to long distance? is it a inter-state thing or something else? Would it be more expensive to, say call, from one state to another than between two cities in the same state, even if the distance for the inter-state call is shorter? I’ll answer, since Canadian telephony is very similar to that of the States. Local calls on the traditional landline provider were a flat fee for individual calls (unlimited time on each call), or were included in your monthy rate at no extra charge. Typically these would be to phones within 20 or 30 or 50 km of your central office. Usually the nearest significant town was included in the local calling area. Anything else was long-distance, and you paid by the minute. Hence the importance of toll-alerting, to distinguish between the two types of calls. In the States, after the breakup of the original AT&T, intrastate calls were regulated differently and priced differently than interstate calls. I’m a bit fuzzy on the details, but the US was divided into [LATA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_access_and_transport_area)s, Local Access and Transport Areas. Local phone companies were prohibited from carrying calls between LATAs; long-distance phone companies were prohibited from carrying calls within LATAs. LATAs were sometimes the size of states, but not always. The local phone companies also operated the central offices and connected the phone line to the subscriber. So each subscriber had a default local company and a default long-distance company serving their line. Some LATAs were large enough that they had internal long-distance calls as well, provided by the “local” phone companies. So then you had calls charged at possibly three different rates: local, “local long-distance”, and “real” (i.e. inter-LATA) long-distance. Rates were also different depending on whether you were calling in-state or between states. And this all varied according to location and what phone companies you used. It was never _quite_ this complicated in Canada, mostly becuae we didn’t have LATAs in the same way that the States did. For a true comparison, consider telephony in Europe as a whole, with all the different national phone companies and country codes. That’s the equivalent situation. Telephony in Norway is comparable to telephony in, say, Ontario. > [@abel29a](#): > > Altough I can get the huge expanse of the US makes for some fairly long distances, wouldn’t it make more sense to ditch the local/long distance thingy and just charge the same no matter who you’re calling? I believe most of norther Europe at least has adopted this model. This is happening more and more, on a voluntary basis. It started with cellphones and their plans, but more and more landline companies are providing such plans as well. And then you get the VOIP providers. Skype, for example, charges me 3.95 a month to call anywhere in Canada. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/45 "2010-07-18T01:52:06Z")
Long distance? For my $55 a month, the entire US is a local call, still have to dial 10 digits though. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/46 "2010-07-18T02:05:05Z")
I’m in the same boat as the **OP**. Not a Torontonian, but an Ottawan. Recently they merged together Ottawa’s 613 and Gatineau’s 819. Gatineau valley is a long distance 819 and Kingston is a long distance 613, though. the solution for me has been to include all numbers in my Blackberry’s directory as +1613 or +1819, so that regardless of where I am or where the call is being placed to, the cell phone figures it out itself. This of course, will be the way of the future, as all signs seem to be pointing to the home landline going the way of the kerosene lamp or the Hansom Cab. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/47 "2010-07-18T06:07:32Z")
Is there anyplace in the country that still has five digit dialing for calls within the same exchange? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/48 "2010-07-18T21:26:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Is there anyplace in the country that still has five digit dialing for calls within the same exchange? I would guess that that was eliminated around the same time that dialing 1+seven-digit for long-distance within the same area code was eliminated, which was around 1990 in Ontario. Mind you, that doesn’t stop people in small towns from referring to their numbers that way. People in Bancroft still sometimes quote only the last four digits of their number in conversation, even though everyone has to dial all ten digits (without the 1 in front, because it’s a local call.) ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/49 "2010-07-19T02:41:33Z")
Cecil addressed a related question in 1995: [Why do you get the message that you must first dial “1” before the area code?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1197/why-do-you-get-the-message-that-you-must-first-dial-1-before-the-area-code) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/50 "2010-07-22T21:49:08Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Cecil addressed a related question in 1995: [Why do you get the message that you must first dial “1” before the area code?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1197/why-do-you-get-the-message-that-you-must-first-dial-1-before-the-area-code) I hate to say it, but that article needs a little updating. It’s from 1995, just before the first NANP area codes with middle digits other than 1 or 0\* started to appear, and long before ten-digit dialling became common. \*That’s how we used to distinguish area codes: they had middle digits of 1 or 0, and exchange codes didn’t. But that hasn’t been true for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![brownedbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/49beb7/32.png) [@brownedbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownedbear)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/51 "2013-04-17T17:03:20Z")
All of these posts sound logical, but logic seems to have no place at TPC (The Phone Company). Sometimes when I dial “1” a voice out of the ether tells me I don’t have to dial “1”. So, I dial without the "1"and I will be told that I do have to dial “1”. Or, one day I will have to use a “1”, but a week later, calling the same number, I will not have to use it, It is not just me as the same thing happens to others who use my phone. I consider it a triumph if I make a connection on the first try. So, screw the 21st century and screw TPC and screw whoever is responsible for those muffled demonic chuckles I swear I hear in the faraway! ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/52 "2013-04-17T18:21:06Z")
And sometimes you don’t have to dial 1 to resurrect a zombie thread. In the USA, think [local, local toll and long distance](http://www.fcc.gov/guides/local-local-toll-and-long-distance-calling). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/53 "2013-04-17T19:15:20Z")
> [@brownedbear](#): > > All of these posts sound logical, but logic seems to have no place at TPC (The Phone Company). In 1967 it was TPC (made famous in The President’s Analyst, IIRC. Then there was Lily Tomlin: “We don’t care. We don’t have to. We’re the phone company.”). However, today it’s a zillion phone companies all connected together with chewing gum and baling wire. The fact that it works at all is a miracle to me. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/54 "2013-04-17T20:04:23Z")
Maybe off topic, but why isn’t there a land line equivalent to my cell phone’s contact list? Why should I dial numbers at all, and not simply select the person I’m calling? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/55 "2013-04-17T21:06:18Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Maybe off topic, but why isn’t there a land line equivalent to my cell phone’s contact list? Why should I dial numbers at all, and not simply select the person I’m calling? On landline phones they generally call it a “directory” rather than a “contact list.” All but the cheapest corded phones and virtually every cordless landline phone have some sort of directory function. For example, [this corded phone](http://www.amazon.com/AT-CL2939-Corded-Phone-Handset/dp/B002L3XJ3Y/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1366232107&sr=8-5&keywords=telephone) has a 25 number directory and [this cordless phone](http://www.amazon.com/VTech-CS6419-2-Cordless-Silver-Handsets/dp/B004OA74B0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366232102&sr=8-1&keywords=telephone) has a 50 number directory. (I just picked the first couple of phones I found on amazon when I searched for “telephone.”) ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/56 "2013-04-17T23:42:52Z")
In Paris, TX, you have to dial ten digits to make a local call. Every call has the 903 prefix. If you want to call Clarksville or Annona, Texas, you have to dial a “1” before the 903 even though it is still considered a local call. If you were to call Texarkana, you would dial the “1” and the 903 area code and it would be billed as long distance. The reason is that the 903 area code covers a huge area (pretty much everything from Texarkana, Arkansas to Dallas, Texas.) Dialing the 1 first allows the local area codes to be split, yet again so as the switch at the phone company can handle more phone numbers. SFC Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![snailboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@snailboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snailboy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/57 "2013-04-18T08:25:18Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > On landline phones they generally call it a “directory” rather than a “contact list.” Most people just call it speed dial. > [@SSG\_Schwartz](#): > > In Paris, TX, you have to dial ten digits to make a local call. Every call has the 903 prefix. If you want to call Clarksville or Annona, Texas, you have to dial a “1” before the 903 even though it is still considered a local call. If you were to call Texarkana, you would dial the “1” and the 903 area code and it would be billed as long distance. The reason is that the 903 area code covers a huge area (pretty much everything from Texarkana, Arkansas to Dallas, Texas.) Dialing the 1 first allows the local area codes to be split, yet again so as the switch at the phone company can handle more phone numbers. > > SFC Schwartz That’s not how it works in the Longview area of 903. You don’t have to dial the 1, even for extended local calling to other towns. If you have to dial a 1, then you’re gonna have to pay for that phone call, unless you have free long distance. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/58 "2013-04-18T10:31:07Z")
> [@snailboy](#): > > Most people just call it speed dial. Speed dial and directories are different. On my phones, there are directories where you enter names. You can then enter or scroll through the names to select whom to call. Speed dial is where you assign a shortcut digit (or two) to a phone number, and you have to remember what digit goes with what phone number. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/59 "2013-04-18T11:25:15Z")
3 data points, in one area. I live in Durham NC, where we have 10-digit dialing only. At home using TWC VOIP, I can dial 10 digits to anywhere in continental US and it works. There is no long distance charge, due to my plan. I suspect if I were to dial a call that requires a toll, I’d have to enter the 1. (I hope so.) Using my mobile Verizon, it works the same way. Calling from work, in addition to dialing the 9 to get out of the work system, I have to dial a 1, regardless of whether the number is local or not. The area is 919, so all local calls start 91919. I heard that 911 is getting more miscalls these days. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633/60 "2013-04-18T13:46:44Z")
zombie or no what is local/LATA/interLATA/long distance may be different for billing and switching purposes. it might be billed as a local call yet need to be dialed as if it were long distance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-i-have-to-dial-1-for-long-distance-now-that-its-ten-digit-dialing/472633.md?page=4)