The goal of this page is to clear up some misconceptions regarding the advent of ten-digit dialing in Alberta, coming in September of 2008.
Recently, on Facebook, I encountered a group called "We Don't Want Local Dialing Code 587 in Alberta!" OK, fine... there's always going to be some folks who are resistant to change, and I decided to go have a look at what some of the arguments against it were.
And right off the bat I spotted a huge misconception. Let me quote from the group's description:
"There is a new local area dialing code being introduced to All of Alberta. From September 2008 forward, we are required to dial a 10 digit phone number for all local calls. This code is 587. I think it is rediculous and solves nothing.. I see no need to add 3 digits making local calling with 10 digits, who's with me?"
Now, leaving aside the atrocious spelling and mis-capitalization (why is "All" capitalized?), the way I read this... if I live in Calgary, and I want to call Pizza 73 at 273-7373, I will soon have to dial the digits as 587-273-7373.
And this is just not right. In fact, this would be the exact opposite result from what's intended. The whole point of an area code overlay is to allow everybody to keep their existing telephone numbers and *NOT* change anything at all. I would dial Pizza 73 as 403-273-7373.
By now, most people in Alberta (and also BC, by the way) have begun dialing their local calls in ten-digit format without too much trouble - indeed, many people I've talked to tell me that, as of the date of this writing (July 7th 2008), they've already gotten into the habit and are now regularly dialing their calls as ten-digits. But there is still a lot of confusion over this issue, and a lot of people want to know WHY this has been forced upon us, so I'll take some time to try to clear some of this up, and also address some of the counter-proposals I've seen on the internet.
First, let's get some definitions straight. Every telephone number in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), which includes Canada, the United States, and over 20 other countries, consists of ten digits. Those digits are:
Earlier I made reference to Pizza 73 in Calgary. Their area code is 403, their central office code is 273, and their line number is 7373. Clear? :-)
Now, we're well used to dialing the full ten digits, along with a leading "1", when we make long distance calls. But we have, until now, been allowed to make local calls by dialing only the central office code and line number, omitting the area code. So I would dial Pizza 73 as just 273-7373, not 403-273-7373. We're simply not used to thinking of numbers in our local calling area as a ten-digit number - but it really is a ten-digit number, and always has been. That's the point you need to accept in order to make sense of all this. :-)
Here's what's changed: you now must dial the full ten-digit number, with area code. Note that you do *NOT* dial a leading "1", because the call is still local. To get a pizza, I now dial 403-273-7373.
And that brings us to the question of: why? In order to answer that fully, I need to take you on a short trip down memory lane. Prior to 1999, Alberta had just a single area code: 403. One area code is theoretically capable of providing up to 7.8 million telephone numbers. You might think that it should be able to provide ten million numbers, but under our current system, several central office codes are not assignable: for example, central office codes cannot begin with "0" or "1", else the telephone system would get seriously confused when you try to dial those numbers.
In fact, due to some other (sometimes quite silly) reservations the numbering authority places on numbering, there are some additional central office codes that are not assigned, leaving us with roughly 7.5 million numbers available. In 1999 there were about 3 million Albertans and we had pretty much run out of numbers: that's 2.5 phone numbers for every man, woman, and child in the province!
At that time, given that there was still some older equipment in the phone networks (that could not handle an area code overlay, which is what's happening today), the decision was made to split the province into two area codes. A line was drawn east-to-west across the province a little north of Lacombe. Everything south of that line retained the 403 area code, while everything north of there switched to the new 780 area code. This meant that everybody in the affected region had to change their business cards, repaint signs, and tell everyone they knew (outside of 780) about the change. Area code splits are extremely disruptive and costly, for both end users and the phone company itself.
Now we fast forward to 2007 (when this decision was made). Both 403 and 780 are rapidly approaching "exhaust", the point at which there are no more assignable numbers. We've got 15 million available numbers for a population of about 3.5 million, or nearly FIVE telephone numbers for every man, woman and child. We are a seriously phone-happy bunch!
What to do? What to do? Obviously, we need a new area code. But how exactly do we implement it? Another split? The only advantage of splits is that it tends to preserve seven-digit dialing (without the area code), but such a split simply wasn't practical. Where would you make the split? You wouldn't want to put the splitline through either Calgary or Edmonton, because if you did, you'd lose the benefit: you'd have to bring in ten-digit dialing anyways, because as new numbers were assigned in each area code on either side of the boundary, sooner or later you'd see the same central-office code on BOTH sides of the split - and once that happens, the telephone switching equipment has no way of knowing which number you want to reach unless you've also provided the area code. If you must have ten-digit dialing, it's better to do it in a way that doesn't cost millions of dollars and piss off everybody on the "wrong" side of the split!
Some wags have proposed that we shrink 780 to "just Edmonton" and 403 to "just Calgary", and switch the rest of the province to the new 587 area code. However, not only would you still run into situations at the boundaries where ten-digit dialing would become necessary (ie: you'd need to dial ten-digits from Calgary to Airdrie), but it would also only stave off the situation for another 4-5 years. This is because such a split would still leave both 403 and 780 about 80% full: Alberta's population is seriously concentrated in these two cities. In this situation, the new "rest of Alberta" 587 area code would probably last a hundred years, but we'd need further area codes for 403 and 780 in 4-5 years, because that's where the growth is.
The only viable option was the "overlay". And while this is a relatively new concept, it's one that is now being used by over 60% of the population on the North American continent. Most major metro areas in the USA (outside of California) use overlays, and all new area codes in Canada since 2000 have been via the overlay.
And it's a very simple idea: you relieve an exhausted area code by simply plunking down a new area code on top of it.
The Alberta approach is, admittedly, a tad unusual in that we're actually getting something called a "superoverlay", in that we're plunking down one new area code on top of TWO exhausting area codes, but otherwise the principle is exactly the same.
Some people find this very confusing. But think about it for a moment. Let's say you bought a house ten years ago in the deep southweast part of Calgary, the area in and around McKenzie Lake. You called up Telus and asked them to hook you up with phone service. They oblige, and give you a phone number of 403-257-xxxx. "257" is a central office code that "homes" onto the telephone switching equipment in that neighbourhood. All new phone lines in that area will have a central office code of 257.
But after a while, they ran out of "257" numbers. They had to open up a new central office code, in this case "726". You might dial 726-1234 to call your neighbour across the street. You might even have two lines in your house, one starting with 257, one with 726.
Congratulations: you now understand the concept of an overlay. The 726 central office code was "overlaid" onto the 257 central office code. Both exist covering the SAME area.
An area code overlay works exactly the same way, except that the geographical area covered is much larger, and that it goes beyond local calling areas.
Let's look at the McKenzie situation again: 257 is actually 403-257. We just think of it as "257" because, until now, we didn't have to dial the "403", but it's been "403-257" from day one. Similarly, the second central office code in that area is 403-726. Now, in a year or two, they may need a third central office code. Since we're just about out of 403 central office codes (in fact, as of this writing, I think there's something like six left), they'll assign a new central office code using the 587 area code. For this example, let's assume they've picked 587-313. Again, this is no different than the previous "overlay", except that now both the area code and the central office code are new.
Now, you might be thinking, well, "313" is different from "257" and "726", so why can't I still dial these phone numbers as seven digits, without the area code? And the answer is this: because 403-313 already exists, and it exists in the Calgary local calling area. If you were to dial "313-1313", how is the phone system going to know if you mean "403-313-1313" or "587-313-1313"? It's not psychic, y'know. :-)
The whole point of the area code overlay is to allow the phone system to re-use all of the central office codes already used in 403 and 780, in the same areas. Without this capability, we simply run out of numbers and can't assign new ones. To accomplish this, we have to go to ten-digit dialing so that the switching system can route your call unambiguously.
Some people have accused Telus of orchestrating this in order to increase long-distance-calling revenues, on the erroneous assumption that numbers in the new area code will be "long distance". This is false, and obviously so if you've been following along with me. :-) Long distance boundaries do not change: they're based on *WHERE* the call goes to, not which area code it's in. Ten-digit-dialled calls are, by definition, *NOT* long distance. Long distance calls must be dialed with a leading "1", and thus are eleven-digit calls, not ten-digit calls. In the above example, calling 587-313-1313 from your 403-257 number is a LOCAL call and won't rack up any charges with Telus or whoever your LD provider is.
Some others have complained that this superoverlay is more confusing than it needs to be, in that ONE new area code will overlay TWO existing area codes. There's some merit to this, in that not everybody will have read this outstanding treatise and thus have a perfect understanding of all the issues. (insert wide grin here.) Indeed, one of the original relief plans called for 587 to only overlay 780, while 403 would be overlaid with a different area code, 825. In the end, however, it came down to efficiency: a superoverlay makes better and more efficient use of a dwindling resource: area codes. It's expected that North America will run out of area codes between 2035 and 2050, and this will necessitate moving to a longer number format. Since such a change will be extremely disruptive, it's best to stave THAT off as long as possible (let our grandkids deal with it!)
A more specific argument goes something like this: with the superoverlay, if someone leaves a message for me on my voicemail and asks me to call them back, and gives me an unfamiliar 587-xxx-xxxx number, how will I know whether it's a local call or long distance? 587 numbers will appear province wide, so I won't know!
The answer is: yes, this is true, but no different than the current situation. Let's say you're still in your place in McKenzie and someone leaves you a voicemail asking you to call them back at 943-1234. 943? Where's that? I dunno! Is it in Calgary? Or is it somewhere else in 403? Red Deer? Lethbridge? Medicine Hat? Who knows?
In fact, that number *IS* in Calgary. But what if it'd been 986? That's a Red Deer number and would be long distance. The easy way to answer the question is: try dialing it as a local call. One of two things will happen: either your call will go through, or you'll get a recording from the phone company telling you it's a long distance call. Then you can decide whether to drop the dime and return the call or not.
Some people seem to be under the misapprehension that it won't be possible to determine where a 587 number is, because it could be anywhere in the province. Well, the same is generally true of 403 and 780 numbers now, albeit with somewhat smaller geographic territories. What they don't realize is this: if, as in the example above, 587-313 gets assigned to the McKenzie switch (and to the Calgary ratecentre in general), *ALL* 587-313 numbers will be in Calgary. You will never see 587-313 numbers in Edmonton or Fort Mac or Red Deer, just as you will never see 403-257 numbers in Red Deer or Lethbridge or Drumheller. Central office codes are tied to ratecentres and are not portable outside of them. If you move from McKenzie to Bowness, you can take your 403-257 number there with you, but if you move to Airdrie, which is a local call from Calgary but in a different ratecentre, you CANNOT take it with you: you'll get a new number out there. This is true today of 403 (and 780) numbers and will be true tomorrow of 587 numbers.
I sincerely hope this clears things up. :-)
-- Joey Lindstrom