[Slipperman]

my address is technically Middletown (near Cromwell line).. lately i've tried to call other M'town numbers and got a recording saying i now needed to include the area code with the number. why? i know that when 860 was first implemented, you needed to include the 860 area code only if not a local call (Hartford to New London eg) but one of these places was less than a mile away and both were in M'town. if that's not local i don't know what is.

[heather121]

The change is state-wide, everyone has to use 10-digit dialing now.

[Slipperman]

was this due to the increased use of cell phones or was there something else behind it? seems kinda funny they decide to do this now.

[glxyman21]

They were running out of numbers. with 10 digit dialing they can use the same numbers twice. i.e. 860-555-5555 and with the new area code 959-555-5555

[7 Wishes]

It's because they are adding 2 new area codes "overlayed" on the existing one. In 203, you may when you get a new number get one that starts with area code 475. In 860, you may get one with 959 instead. By federal law they cannot say these area codes will strictly be given to cell phones and fax machines, however, in most places with 2 area codes for the same place (NY City comes to mind), almost all of the phone numbers with the "new" area code go to those devices.

To make it "fair", in any zones like this full 10-digit dialing is required.

[Slipperman]

i guess i missed the announcement on the new area codes..

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Slipperman

i guess i missed the announcement on the new area codes..

I think there was a thread on here about it when it was first announced. It was all over the news - I even heard about it out in CA but that's because I kept up to date on CT news while away.

That said, I made a few calls the other day to Guilford (local call) and it went through without the 10 digit dialing.

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by Slipperman

i guess i missed the announcement on the new area codes..

It's actually been in the works since the late 1990's but there's been a lot of resistance to it and a lot of things were tried to avoid it (for example, cell phone companies bought smaller blocks of numbers, the reason why there's far fewer area code splits going on than there were 10-20 years ago).

[andthentherewere3]

I hate it, I keep forgetting to dial the area code. It's ridiculous having to dial so many numbers for a local call. And not all local calls in the same town share the same area code, either.

[Lowerdeck]

I've been dialing the area code all along.

Then again, I work in an area (near Worcester) where 10 digit dialing has been going on for years. Half my friends live in 203 also, while I'm in 860.