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Old 05-03-2008, 10:27 AM   #108
Resolute 14
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So what then? No plan has been agreed upon, but most experts predict that, as a necessary precursor to expansion, we'll see the following occur:

1) 10-digit dialing becomes mandatory throughout the North American Numbering Plan.

2) There will need to be a rather lengthy "phase-in" period. Going from 10-digits to more-than-10 will be a *HUGE* undertaking, and not just for the phone company but for all of us. Any computer software that records phone numbers will need to be adapted or replaced, just for starters. It will take time to make all these changes, so any sort of "flash cut" will be out of the question (ie: you can't just say we're going to switch from 10-digit dialing to 12-digit dialing on January 1st 2051).
The experts should get on their horses and agree to a plan soon, for the very fact of how many things will have to be changed. The sooner they do this, the less hastle it will be once the switchover becomes necessary.

Same reason why the majority of computer NICs produced today are capable of supporting IPv6 even though we have not yet exhausted the limits of IPv4. When the switchover becomes necessary, most pieces of hardware will already support it (save for poor grandma who still uses her P-75MHz Windows 95 machine to play bridge with her girlfriends on the internet), so the costs to the consumer, and even the providers for new hardware will be limited.

Personally, I'm surprised they even would consider releasing 912 as a home code, even if it seems necessary. They stopped assigning 912 numbers to Airdrie a few years ago because the number of misdials to 911 went way up. They now assign 945, which they probably could have done in the first place had they thought about it.
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