Text 11560, 54 rader
Skriven 2005-08-12 15:59:00 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
  Kommentar till text 11515 av Carol Shenkenberger (6:757/1)
Ärende: Cell phone charges
==========================
Hello Carol,

 > dialing me inside Japan, from a 'normal' line, would use my
 > nodelisted entry just fine.  It doesnt look 'normal' though to
 > Japanese folks.  They'd expect 0956- not 6160-.  Best as i
 > know, all Japan areacodes start with 0 (indicates 'LD' call
 > outside your areacode).

That's a European standard that other countries are also adopting. The '0'
isn't really part of the area code and it had little or nothoing to do with
"Long Distance" as the '1' in the US and Canada.

The '0' is a prefix indicating that one want to connect to the next higher
hirarchical level. If you look at my nodelisted number you will see that it is
listed in three oarts. First the country code, 31, then the area code, 343 and
last but not least the subscriber's number 518411.

To dial this number locally, one jusr dials the subscriber's number like in
almost any other part of the world.

To call if from outside my own area one has t0 dial the area code as well. But
unlike in the US and Canada one must first dial the "out of area access code"
of 0. This is to let the system know that what follows next is an area code and
not a subscriber's number. So to call my number from Amsterdam one would dial
0343-518411.


In the US and Canada, one can determine from the number itself if it is a three
digit area code or if they are the first three digits of a subscriber's number.
As I understand it area codes always had a middle digit of 1 or 2, but now the
algoritm is more complicated.

In Europe they choose to use the '0' prefix to discriminate.

It also works on the next level. '00' is the "international access code". It
tells the system that what follows next is not an area code or a subscriber's
number, but a country code.

And downwards: on Private Branch exchanges one dials '0' to get an outside
line.

In the past each and every country had their own access codes, but now the '0'
and '00' are almost universal across Europe, Even France has adapted. Sort
of... ;-)

Many other countries are following. See:

http://kropla.com/dialcode.htm


Cheers, Michiel

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 * Origin: http://www.vlist.nodelist.org (2:280/5555)