New SK Area Code

[circle33]

Old customers can keep 306, CRTC says

CBC News
Posted: Aug 26, 2011 9:54 AM CST

Saskatchewan's second area code will be 639, but people who already have 306 won't have to switch. CBC

Saskatchewan will not be split in two when its new area code comes in and old customers can stick with 306, the CRTC has confirmed.

The province is running out of 306 phone numbers and is scheduled to add a new code — 639 — in May, 2013.

One option would be to split the province into north and south, and require half the existing 306 users to switch to 639.

Instead, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunication Commission announced Friday that everybody who already has a 306 number can keep it.

Anyone getting a new phone line as of May 25, 2013, could get the new code.

That's the approach SaskTel wanted.

The rest of the story

[river that calls]

Civil war averted.

[Andy6]

That would have been ugly, no doubt.

[Echoes]

Phew. A proud 306'er I will remain.

[vid]

Meanwhile, in Northern Ontario...

Hello, operator? Can you please get me Zenith-54506?

[Andy6]

I love Zenith! I remember when we still had party lines and in the Sault you o nly had to dial five digits. Those were good times. Don't be ashamed to live where dialling is still just 7 digits. 10 is a pain, as Sask. is about to discover.

[VANRIDERFAN]

This is stupid, draw a line from Alsask-Davidson-Melville. North 306 south the new one.

[Treesplease]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

This is stupid, draw a line from Alsask-Davidson-Melville. North 306 south the new one.

I agree - even if I have to change my number to 639 I would prefer it to 10 digit dialing to order a pizza.

[babo]

Land lines keep the 306, mobiles get the 639.

[vid]

Originally Posted by Treesplease

I agree - even if I have to change my number to 639 I would prefer it to 10 digit dialing to order a pizza.

To order pizza you just hit the same number seven times. Is adding an area code to that really that much of a chore?

Meanwhile, changing the area code for everyone in half the province will take a while and require everyone to update letter heads, business cards, speed dialing, and so on. Changing area codes (and addresses in the case of a street name change) is a time consuming and expensive process. That's why we just overlay now.

[The Bess]

Just put all your common numbers on speed dial, NP

[Treesplease]

Neither overlay or a geographic based area code is a huge chore in the grand scheme of things. In terms of my personal preference for those numbers that aren't common and don't justify speed dial or memory keys - pizza, contractors, and business aquaintences you call frequently for a week or two and never call again - 10 digit is an annoyance.
Any long distance is currently 10 digit so its not a big deal.

Changing busines cards or promotional items is not a big deal either - usually dirt cheap and these should be updated every few years anyway to make sure they are effective. People tend to exagerate the little things that will be different with change such as the cost of business cards and the annoyance of punching 10 digits.

[sopas ej]

It's funny to me the way people react about new area codes.

California has so many area codes already that 10 digit dialing (11 digit dialing, actually, if you include the "1" you have to press first) doesn't even faze me. One of my friends lives literally 3 miles from me and she lives in another area code; her number is programmed into my phone anyway, though not on speed dial. And I guess because people move across town or whatever often, many people will have one area code for their cell phone (because they don't wanna change their number) and have a different area code for their land line (though some people don't even have those anymore).

Oh, and I order my pizza online.

[UPP]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

This is stupid, draw a line from Alsask-Davidson-Melville. North 306 south the new one.

My thoughts too, except the north half would obviously get the new area code.

[North_Regina_Boy]

I don't like it it, cut the province in half, HOW are you to know who has what area code! Comon CRTC stop being retarded! I am a proud 306'er but if 639 is what I have to be no biggy! Also it is AREA code for a reason so you know (which area) area codes should not be interchangeable! Just make sure Regina is still 306, that way we don't have to spend a tonne of money to switch all the gov't phones over and so that the RIDERS can still be in the 306! I live in Saskatoon and would embrace the 639 code, heck I already had to switch once from 334 to 251 in Alabama.

[vid]

Originally Posted by North_Regina_Boy

I don't like it it, cut the province in half, HOW are you to know who has what area code! Comon CRTC stop being retarded! I am a proud 306'er but if 639 is what I have to be no biggy! Also it is AREA code for a reason so you know (which area) area codes should not be interchangeable! Just make sure Regina is still 306, that way we don't have to spend a tonne of money to switch all the gov't phones over and so that the RIDERS can still be in the 306! I live in Saskatoon and would embrace the 639 code, heck I already had to switch once from 334 to 251 in Alabama.

Go back to the early 2000s and apply this to telephone exchanges (the first three digits of a seven digit phone number):

I don't like it it, cut the exchange in half, HOW are you to know who has what telephone exchange! Comon CRTC stop being retarded! I am a proud 76x'er but if 62x is what I have to be no biggy! Also it is EXCHANGE code for a reason so you know (which exchange) exchange numbers should not be interchangeable! Just make sure Jumbo Gardens is still 76x, that way we don't have to spend a tonne of money to switch all the gov't phones over and so that the PIZZA HUT can still be in the 767! I live in County Park and would embrace the 62x exchange, heck I already had to switch once from 34x to 68x in College Heights.

About ten to fifteen years ago, telephone exchange numbers we no longer confined to geographic areas. The neighbourhood I grew up in (in Thunder Bay) used to have only 766, 767 and 768 phone numbers, but now most people there have 620 and 621 numbers, and anyone who moved to that neighbourhood from another part of town will probably have something else. I moved away to the opposite end of town (the original home of the 62x and 63x numbers) and I still have a 766 number.

Phone numbers used to be only five digits. You would dial 5-2453. Then they needed more space, so they made people request the local exchange. Where I live now was called MAyfair — MA5-2453. Then area codes were introduced for anyone calling long distance. It was originally 705, then 807 was created for our region. 807-MA5-2435. Then they phased out the letters in the phone number, so it became 807-625-2453. It was like that for about 45 years before they no longer had to confine an exchange to a single switchboard. Now you can assign that number not just to any place in Thunder Bay, but to any place in the 807 area code. Soon, I bet even area codes won't be confined to geography and we'll be seeing 807 pop up all over the place. (It's one of the least used area codes in service.)

It would have been better if we had been a little bit more forward looking and started using 8 digit phone numbers instead. We wouldn't need anywhere near as many area codes as we have now.

[freeweed]

Originally Posted by vid

Meanwhile, in Northern Ontario...

Hello, operator? Can you please get me Zenith-54506?

Every once in a while I realize how old I am.

One thing is that I used to be able to smoke at my desk when I first started working as a teenager. The other is that when growing up in small town Ontario, we used to only have to dial FOUR digits to place a local call.

[Dalreg]

Well 8 digit numbers are the norm here in Australia. My home number is 93** 31**, plus the state code. in my case 08. So all numbers are 10 digits. Dialing out of the country back to canada, well thats a whole nother ball game.....

[North_Regina_Boy]

Originally Posted by Dalreg

Well 8 digit numbers are the norm here in Australia. My home number is 93** 31**, plus the state code. in my case 08. So all numbers are 10 digits. Dialing out of the country back to canada, well thats a whole nother ball game.....

Wouldn't you just dial 1-XXX-XXX-XXXX for Canada and the US?

[vid]

International calling works differently in different places. In Canada, to call Dalreg, we would dial 011-61-08-93xx-31xx. For him to call Canada, he would dial 0011-1-306-383-xxxx, for example.

Canada, the US, and the Caribbean share a country code—1. Australia's country code is 61. That comes after the international access code, 011 for us and 0011 for Australians. If you don't dial the international access code, you can't access any number outside the numbering plan area. You can use "01" instead if you would like operator assistance but I think that costs more.