TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Re: A Question About 'Dial 1' in USA Calling

Re: A Question About 'Dial 1' in USA Calling

Mark Crispin (MRC@CAC.Washington.EDU)
Thu, 23 Feb 2006 21:11:57 -0800

On Thu, 23 Feb 2006, Dan Popescu wrote:

> I wanna ask you a question if that's OK. First I should tell you that
> I live in Europe. It's not clear to me: when you make an interstate
> call within the US is it necessary to dial 1 before the area code and
> number or can you dial just area code + number?

The 1 prefix in the NANPA countries is equivalent to the 0 prefix in most
other countries; it prefixes an area code (city code).

The 10 prefix is followed by a company code and the number, to route the
call through some other carrier than the phone's default.

The 0 prefix is used as well. Followed by a 10-digit NANPA number, it
indicates alternative charging (credit card, third-party billing, etc.)
and/or "operator assistance" within the NANPA. Followed by 1, a country
code, and a number in that country, it indicates alternative charging for
an international (outside NANPA) call. Followed by 11, a country code,
and a number in that country, it indicates direct dialing for an
international call.

At one time 0 by itself used to get you the local operator, and 00 got you
the default long distance operator. I don't know if these still exist.

> What about when calling Canada or other NANPA country -- is the
> country code 1 necessary?

All calls within the NANPA are dialled as local or long distance
calls. As seen above, it's impossible to reference country code 1
within the NANPA. Intra-NANPA calls are treated as long-distance
calls, even if they are international.

-- Mark --

http://staff.washington.edu/mrc
Science does not emerge from voting, party politics, or public debate.
Si vis pacem, para bellum.

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