Telephone Area Codes and Prefixes

I am a 1960'- 70's firstclass radiotelephone licensee and sole stockholder of radio station KTXN-FM, 98.7 megahertz and 100 kilowatts in Victoria, Texas, --on the web as

formatting link
--, which I started in 1964 while a student -- 21 years old -- in Radio/TV/Film at the University of Houston, Texas. I have been fascinated with the field of numbers and mathematics in combinations and permutations for many years. Thus the use of numbers in telephone numbers, license plates, etc. has held a particular fascination for me. If a teacher wants to give extra credit for elementary computer programmers, they should ask students to go through the logic of yes and no alternatives in dialing a local call with seven digits. There are a lot of very interesting stops -- disconnects, non local NXX, etc. -- along the way. I would be happy to go through it. I have testified before the Public Utility Commission of Texas -- one of the last states to have this jurisdiction placed in one organization under state control. The matter was the breakup of the then 512 area code with outlying areas to the state capital going to a new code of the N, (2-9), N -- EVENTUALLY THE SECRET WAS OUT AS 361. They had their minds made up as to the outcome, but I put in my two cents worth.

Here are my suggestions which are still today applicable.

  1. Place all government telephones on their own area code I heard a stuck pig squeal as they claimed this would be discrimination. In another comment cell phones are placed upon special area codes in Chicago and NYC.
  2. Give a fourth number (digit) behind the present area code three digits based upon the clock: with 0 being north of center of code area or city center, 3 to the east, 6 to the south, and 9 to the west.
  3. Give an additional digit to all numbers based upon use, e.g. 1 for cell,
2 for fax 3 for internet access, etc.l
  1. Add aditional digit behind the present three for uses as listed in alternative 3. As to archives and comments of telephone number configurations, the prefix Zenith was used in the 1950's for non dial telephones in Pacific Palisades area of LA. Chicago had in the same period a 2L and 6N in some sub-urban area numbers in the same period. Not all possible combinations were used in all area codes, while several private NXX -- such as KRypton was used in Houston, Texas, for the Humble Building, and LT (WITH NO MEANING WAS USED UNTIL MODERN TIMES IN NYC.) Use of NXX which are identical to area codes.. this really confused subscribers, for example 512 the former area code of my home city of Victoria, Texas, prior to 361, was used as an exchange in the LA area in Gardena, another use of this knid was 708 (Rochester MN). In Austin, Texas, my NXX was 310 -- the area code for Beverly Hills. Some side lines to area codes and radio stations would be We Shield Millions at 650 on the standard broadcast radio dial in Nashville,TN and the area code for Nashville 615. If one is familiar with telephone numbering issuance one can tell when a telephone number was issued in many cases.

Issuance of numbers woulds be as follows: at time of dial switchover

5N (N-NNNN) then 1L - 4N -- uncertain whether all letters were used or not the exchanges 2L-4N followed by 2L-5N, or in Chicago 2L-6N. Note the initial digit in 2L-5N was not a 1 or a 0. then 2L-4N disappeared and 2L-5N took on 0 or 1 with 4 N, then 7N (except for NXX that were N(1 or 0) in second position or third position) 624, but not 604 7N with second digit 1 or 0 being issued with other numbers e.g 510 7N with NXX including 00 in second and third position. ef.g. 200 break up of area code. Some challenges exist where a state line crosses through a town and two area codes are present and there is a need to dial across the state line without area code being used as is the case in Texarkana AR and TX.

Submitted,

Joe Tibiletti President KTXN-FM

2618 FM 1685 Victoria, TX, 77905 snipped-for-privacy@suddenlink.net [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Actually, the _original_ layout of area codes was not quite like what you say. Phones originally had rotary dials (especially in the 1950-60's era). Area codes were assigned so that the larger, metropolitan areas had 'quicker' and 'shorter to dial' area codes, i.e. New York had 212 (=5 pulses to dial), Chicago had 312 (=6 pulses to dial), Los Angeles had 213 (=6 pulses to dial), Detroit had 313 (=7 pulses to dial) and very few 9xx (= at least a dozen or two dozen pulses to dial) were generally not assigned. Not in the early days.

When telephone exchanges were name/words, they were often times assigned based on geographic considerations. For example, Chicago used to have FRAnklin (372), DEArborn (332), STAte (782), WABash (922), and others downtown; all names familiar to Chicagoans, as well as GRAceland (472) and MIChigan (642) on the north side. Now, they still have those prefixes exactly where they always were, along with dozens of 'newcomers'; all-number prefixes with no name attached or associated. They are referred to as ANCs or All Number Calling prefixes. I cannot imagine telco at this late date setting up what may seem to be a more logical arrangement of numbers; its much too late in the game to change the rules that much. PAT]

Reply to
Joe Tibiletti
Loading thread data ...

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.