New Area Code 343 for Ottawa

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

The biggest problem in phone number usage is the growth of cell phones and other similar devices.

I work in an office with a line pool and each line has a number. The only time all but the first number ever gets dialed is when we need to test something. Most of the staff does not even know what the other numbers are.

It would actually be an interesting idea to move cell phones (and such) to separate area codes since they are not geographically tied at least in the conventional sense.

I worked for a consulting firm in the Toronto area for years and at 17h00 the receptionist put the main # on the answering machine. However, people knew what the 2nd line # was and gave that # to their spouses etc, if they needed to get hold of them after 17h00. The company had about 12 incoming/outgoing lines, but only line 1 was on the company letterhead etc.

Now with LNP (local number portability) cell phone exchanges can be the same as regular land line exchanges (not sure if it is the other way around). In the UK all cell phone exchanges start with the prefix 07 I believe...it is a way to tell if you are calling a cell phone.

Cell phone exchanges are still tied to a geographic area...otherwise we would have no roaming or LD charges.

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by wingman

It's true. I work for an unnamed Federal Department and I believe every single person here has their own 7 digit number.

I wish that the City of Ottawa had this instead of the generic 613 580 2400 showing up on my call display. It would be great to know who from 110 Laurier is calling me and if I want to answer or not.

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by clynnog

I wish that the City of Ottawa had this instead of the generic 613 580 2400 showing up on my call display. It would be great to know who from 110 Laurier is calling me and if I want to answer or not.

[harls]

Originally Posted by clynnog

In the UK all cell phone exchanges start with the prefix 07 I believe...it is a way to tell if you are calling a cell phone.

We don't need that in Canada, you can tell if the person is calling from a cell simply by list..ng ..f ..he.. ersons voic.. ..utting in and ..ut.

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by harls

We don't need that in Canada, you can tell if the person is calling from a cell simply by list..ng ..f ..he.. ersons voic.. ..utting in and ..ut.

This may be slightly OT, but where in the greater Ottawa area have you had absolutely no cell phone reception.

For me:

• parts of the elevators at 110 Laurier and the P2 level of the u/g parking
  between Richmond and the Dwyer Hill/Franktown intersection
  between Bourget and Lemieux
  on chemin Notch between Chelsea and Aylmer (this may have been fixed on Rogers now)
  between Cantley and Wakefield, near the ski resort
  on the west side of L'Orginal
  between Glen Robertson and Dalhousie Mills, Ont

Any others people can think of...the holes are getting smaller and are dependent on population, terrain etc.

[Ottawade]

Not to aid in derailing the conversation, but everyone who works in my lab had to switch phone services from bell/telus to rogers/fido on Carleton campus. It was pretty much impossible to receive a call on bell, so much so most of us turned our phones off to avoid the frustration of hearing the phone ringing, but knowing that answering it was futile. On the other hand there seems to be a rogers/fido tower right on campus.

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by Ottawade

Not to aid in derailing the conversation, but everyone who works in my lab had to switch phone services from bell/telus to rogers/fido on Carleton campus. It was pretty much impossible to receive a call on bell, so much so most of us turned our phones off to avoid the frustration of hearing the phone ringing, but knowing that answering it was futile. On the other hand there seems to be a rogers/fido tower right on campus.

We actually discovered a similar thing at U of O. The Rogers system could penetrate sub-basements and such (which U of O is full of), while the Telus/Bell system sends you running for the nearest window every time you need to make a call...

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

We actually discovered a similar thing at U of O. The Rogers system could penetrate sub-basements and such (which U of O is full of), while the Telus/Bell system sends you running for the nearest window every time you need to make a call...

I believe it is something to do with the frequencies that Telus/Bell use vs Rogers/Fido..one is GSM and one isn't. Rogers/Fido probably has better reception inside the core of buildings but once you get out in rural areas, Bell often works where Rogers doesn't. For example, Bell works in Algonquin Park and Rogers doesn't (why you want a cell phone in such a beautiful place is beyond me).

[BlackRedGold]

Originally Posted by clynnog

For example, Bell works in Algonquin Park and Rogers doesn't (why you want a cell phone in such a beautiful place is beyond me).

Maybe in case you've hit a moose and want to get help ASAP?

[c_speed3108]

Originally Posted by clynnog

I believe it is something to do with the frequencies that Telus/Bell use vs Rogers/Fido..one is GSM and one isn't. Rogers/Fido probably has better reception inside the core of buildings but once you get out in rural areas, Bell often works where Rogers doesn't. For example, Bell works in Algonquin Park and Rogers doesn't (why you want a cell phone in such a beautiful place is beyond me).

This could be it. I worked in a large government building in the city for a agency that had a contract with Bell for cell phones. Bell had gone through the building and installed indoor cell antennas on the ceiling each floor of the building. They were located in the core by the elevators. I have also seen the same ones in the Rideau Centre as well.

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by BlackRedGold

Maybe in case you've hit a moose and want to get help ASAP?

For the moose or yourself and/or your car?

IIRC, the cell phone reception in Algonquin only really works for about 2 km on either side of Hwy 60 and they had to hide the towers on or near existing hydro poles etc.

[Mille Sabords]

New area code will be in service on May 17th 2010:

==============

Ottawa area to get new '343' area code
The Ottawa Citizen
September 29, 2009

OTTAWA — Regions around the nation’s capital and Montreal will have new numbers to remember next summer as two new area codes are introduced.

The 613 area code, which stretches across many eastern Ontario communities — including Ottawa, Kingston, Brockville, Cornwall, Belleville and Bancroft — will now share space with a new 343 area code. The changes will begin on May 17, 2010, with the new area code introduced into existing 613 regions.

Near Montreal, the 450 area code, which has only been in use since 1998, will get some relief from a new 579 area code.

The 450 region encompasses areas such as Laval, Quebec’s north and south shores, Lanaudiere, Monteregie, the Richelieu Valley and some parts of the Laurentians and Estrie.

The changes will start on Aug. 21, 2010 in that region.

Both the 613 and 450 area codes, however, will continue to be distributed until capacity is reached.

The need for new area codes, which come after a ruling from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, are a result of increased demand for new phone numbers for personal and commercial wireless services and Internet connections.

[Zach6668]

I just read the whole thread, and just have one thought.

Initially, it seemed like having 2 area codes would be a giant pain in the ass, but when I think about it more, I can't remember the last time I dialed a number from memory. Every call I ever make comes from my contact list, or I look it up in the phone book/online, etc, which means all 10 digits will be listed anyways, so there's no confusion or anything like that.

Now, I don't do a lot of phoning, so maybe it is a PITA for people who use the phone more, but really, this won't change a thing in my day to day life, ever.

[Ottawan]

We already have to worry about 613 vs 819, so adding one more into the mix isn't such a big deal.

I actually feel worse for those who don't live in or near Ottawa, but in the rest of the 613 area. If a new area code had been regionally based as beyond-Ottawa borders, that could last them a long time, whereas I foresee that regarding Ottawa, another new area code could be neccessary somewhere down the line.

[Richard Eade]

I'm just waiting for June 18, 2010 when I no longer need to pay 50 cents every phone bill to subsidize Kanata calling Orleans.

[eternallyme]

Originally Posted by Ottawan

We already have to worry about 613 vs 819, so adding one more into the mix isn't such a big deal.

I actually feel worse for those who don't live in or near Ottawa, but in the rest of the 613 area. If a new area code had been regionally based as beyond-Ottawa borders, that could last them a long time, whereas I foresee that regarding Ottawa, another new area code could be neccessary somewhere down the line.

819 will likely add a new code as well early in the next decade.

If 613 was split along the lines of the telephone exchanges sitting in the City of Ottawa, the outlying 343 would likely last quite a while (probably at least 2050), while Ottawa would need a second code before 2030, sooner than with the overlay.

Why feel bad for the outlying areas? Everyone outside Ottawa would have had to change their phone numbers (from 613-xxx-xxxx to 343-xxx-xxxx). That would be quite a burden for businesses and especially the small phone companies in the outlying areas.

[harls]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Why feel bad for the outlying areas? Everyone outside Ottawa would have had to change their phone numbers (from 613-xxx-xxxx to 343-xxx-xxxx). That would be quite a burden for businesses and especially the small phone companies in the outlying areas.

Didn't Northern Alberta have to do this not that long ago? I don't know when 780 came into effect, but it must have been just as disruptive.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

819 will likely add a new code as well early in the next decade.

.

Not everyone realizes it but 819 is not just the area code for the Outaouais. It covers a huge region of Quebec both west, east and north of Montreal.

Places in the 819 area code include:

Sherbrooke
Drummondville
Trois-Rivières
Shawinigan
Rouyn-Noranda
Val-d'Or
The Laurentians (Tremblant, etc.)
The Cree and Inuit communities in the north of Quebec all the way to James, Hudson and Ungava bays

It used to be even bigger and used to include the eastern NWT (now Nunavut). All three territories are now grouped together under one area code.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

819 will likely add a new code as well early in the next decade.

If 613 was split along the lines of the telephone exchanges sitting in the City of Ottawa, the outlying 343 would likely last quite a while (probably at least 2050), while Ottawa would need a second code before 2030, sooner than with the overlay.

Why feel bad for the outlying areas? Everyone outside Ottawa would have had to change their phone numbers (from 613-xxx-xxxx to 343-xxx-xxxx). That would be quite a burden for businesses and especially the small phone companies in the outlying areas.

Ya, I didn't get that reasoning either. I'm sure there are plenty of homes in the rural areas that have had the same number for 40 years whose residents wouldn't be too happy about having to give them up. It's just more grumble-worthy fodder for complaining about being oppressed by Ottawa.

It would have made more sense, when you come down to it, for urban Ottawa to get the new area code and to cease handing out 613 numbers in urban Ottawa so as to maximize their life elsewhere since there's not really a compelling case to hand out 343 numbers to anyone outside Ottawa's urban boundary given that most of the growth in phone numbers is from Ottawa and not the rest of the area code.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by Dado

I'm sure there are plenty of homes in the rural areas that have had the same number for 40 years whose residents wouldn't be too happy about having to give them up. It's just more grumble-worthy fodder for complaining about being oppressed by Ottawa.

You have encapsulated perfectly Lowell's audience.