Get Ready For 12 Digit Phone Numbers
from the keep-growing-and-growing... dept
It used to be, mentally, a phone number was 7 digits. You never had to worry about the area code. Now that I live somewhere that has something like 5 or 6 different area codes within stone throwing distance (and even my own area code often requires me to dial the area code for some local calls), I've had to mentally readjust. When people ask for my phone number I immediately start with the area code (and am surprised when other people don't do that). We are running out of phone numbers. But, it's a problem that people are working on, and one suggestion is to up the phone number length to 12. Have a four digit area code, a four digit "dialing prefix", and then keep the last set at four numbers. I'm all for it. However, as they point out in the article, this sort of thing might make the Y2K bug look small. But maybe it'll help with this unemployment problem we've been having...
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
