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The new 226 area code

9K views 28 replies 21 participants last post by  FRITZ LANG 
#1 ·
Class war and the 226

Sun, November 20, 2005




You'll be dialing more numbers next year when you phone sleepy suburbanites, country folk or downtown-dwelling yuppies.

And it's possible you'll be making those very same class assumptions when you do.

When a second area code is brought into Southwestern Ontario's 519 zone next year, it could do more than add three extra digits to every phone call.

A pop-culture expert warns it may connect the region to a new level of class competition -- the 519s against the 226s.

Thanks to the exploding popularity of cellphones, the 519 area code has run out of seven-digit numbers, making the 226 prefix necessary.

All calls, including local calls, will require 10-digit dialing starting next summer.

But beyond simple inconvenience, the conjoined area codes may also cause broad social complications.

"It's another form of inclusion or exclusion," said Tim Blackmore, a pop culture professor at the University of Western Ontario.

"You can refer to a whole band of people by referring to . . . numbers on the dial, making assumptions on who are members of the community. That's a worrisome thing."

To Blackmore, the concern is simple: A 519 or 226 number could denote broad generalizations -- socio-economic, for example -- about the person who holds it.

In Toronto, the area-code distinction between the 416, 905 and newest 647 zones carries some social weight, he said.

The 647ers, interspersed with 416ers, are the area newcomers; both see 905ers as suburban sleepwalkers, while 905ers think of their counterparts as career-driven yuppies.

In Vancouver, the introduction of a second area code in the mid-1990s also sparked a strong community reaction, said Blackmore, who lived there at the time.

"It encourages people to think about groups in an abstract way that doesn't bear any resemblance to reality," he said. "It (potentially) indicates a newer community as opposed to an older community.

"We hold a myth that Canada or North America is a class-free society. Couldn't be further from the truth."

But for their part, Telecommunications Alliance, the industry association promoting the new area code, is hoping to disconnect any social stigma.

Anyone getting a new number in the current 519 area -- whether in Windsor or Woodstock -- could get a 226 number, spokesperson Johanne Lemay said. The area codes, she added, will likely end up mixed together here, not just in new or growing neighbourhoods.

"If someone has a 226 area code, in a few years from now, you won't be able to tell where they are," she said.

"We've run out of telephone numbers. That's plain and simple. It's an inconvenience (but) it's necessary."

For more information on the new area code, go to www.dial10.ca.

GETTING READY

Starting in October 2006, a new area code -- 226 -- will be gradually introduced. Here's how to prepare:

Now

- Reprogram your telephone and communications equipment to comply with 10-digit dialing.

June 17, 2006

- Start using 10-digit dialing for all local communications.

- If you dial only seven digits, before you are connected, you will hear a recorded message reminding you to dial all 10 digits the next time. This message may disrupt data transmission (Internet, faxes, etc.).

Oct. 14, 2006

- 10-digit local dialing is mandatory.

- The new 226 area code will be gradually introduced once all numbers in the 519 code have been completely exhausted.
 
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#5 ·
ssiguy said:
Why don't they just create a whole new area code, its a hell of a lot easier.
You can only have so many phone numbers in each area code and one code won't be able to handel them all.


ldoto said:
The 647ers, interspersed with 416ers, are the area newcomers; both see 905ers as suburban sleepwalkers, while 905ers think of their counterparts as career-driven yuppies.
Career-driven yuppies? Who in the 905 actually thinks that?

Btw, shouldn't it be 905ers and 289ers think of them as... or are they considered even lower than the 905ers now?
 
#6 ·
That whole idea that area codes divides is such bullshit. The 416/905 divide for example That existed way before the new area code came to being. It used to be called Toronto vs suburbs. Now we all get numbers assigned instead.
As for the 647, they thought it would make those people look bad as they had to settle for the new number, instead of the traditional 416. So it was supposed to be old vs new I guess. That is also b/s as I have a mix of friends with both numbers and I can't recall ever even having a conversation about it. Besides, in the days of speed dial and voice activated calling, the actual phone number itself is almost irrelavent.

Maybe it would have been easier to have phone numbers being 8 digits instead of creating all these new area codes. Not sure of the logistics of that, but it would be better than GTA having 7 area codes (remember when there was two...416 and 519) to remember.
 
#8 ·
partybits said:
Maybe it would have been easier to have phone numbers being 8 digits instead of creating all these new area codes. Not sure of the logistics of that, but it would be better than GTA having 7 area codes (remember when there was two...416 and 519) to remember.
Australia switched t 8 digit numbers, they put a 0 in front of existing numbers, and a 1 in front of new numbers. Canada could probably do the same thing, and we'd only need one area code for the whole province if we used 0-9. Maybe 3 or 4 in the whole country.
 
#10 ·
Brett said:
10 digit dialing is crap! Im so happy they don't have it on the west coast. I never figured out why Bell had to introduce this in Ont. I've been to LA and they don't have 10 digit dialing there, and there are many more people then the golden horseshoe.
There are two types of area code splits. One is geographic where an original area code is phyiscally divded into two (or more area codes). This is what happened with the original 416 when 905 was created. This is also what is happening in Los Angeles.

The other typs is an overlay, where a second (or third) area code is applied to an existing area code. This is what is happening in 416/647, 905/289, 519/226 area codes. This requires 10 digits to dial (area code+phone number). This method is being used more often these days as it ensures that the are code "wears out" evenly. Geographic splits have a tendancy to run out faster, as they are usually concentrated in urban areas, subsequently requiring another area code.

There are then combinations of the two. Look at Vancouver for example. The original 604 was concentrated onto the Lower Mainland of BC, while everyone else got the 250 area code. Then area code 778 was added as both a geographic split (Greater Vancouver vs. Lower Mainland) and an overlay (on top of the 604 area code). They get uglier in the US where area codes run out a lot faster.
 
#11 ·
519 is by no means a GTA area code. sounds like someone who has never left TO is making assumptions. with this logic windsor is gta???? hell half of ontario is gta. you guys are nuts
 
#12 ·
Isn't there an episode of The Simpsons where the city is divided by two different area codes? hehe
 
#13 ·
Parts of GTA use 519 exchanges, ones like my friend in Milton. Orangeville is pretty GTA to me too, and uses 519 as well. I think for an area code as large an area as 519, a split would've made more sense than an area like 416 Toronto (which is a smaller area), but I guess overlays are better for people with existing numbers. You can't just have Canada add a digit willy-nilly. Canada is a member of the NANPA, the North American Number Planning Association, which coordinates phone numbers for US, Canada, and most of the Caribbean.
 
#14 ·
worldwide said:
519 is by no means a GTA area code. sounds like someone who has never left TO is making assumptions. with this logic windsor is gta???? hell half of ontario is gta. you guys are nuts
No, just half of Southern Ontario, Actually, a third. Only about 8% of the actual province. 10% at most.

There is a northern part of the province. Of course, like people from Southern Ontario give a shit. :|

And yes, there is an episode of the simpson where they get a seperate area code, it was a geographic split, one part of the city had one area code, the other half another.

NANPA is a bitch, eh?
 
#18 ·
I think someday the 226 should be the number for a city metro area like K/W, London, or Windsor or certain counties and then have the 519 for the rest of the area. But we'll eventually get used to dialing 10-digit numbers, hopefully. I'm already used to saying the area code when I give my phone number. :)
 
#19 ·
Ten digital dialing in Vancouver

Brett said:
10 digit dialing is crap! Im so happy they don't have it on the west coast. I never figured out why Bell had to introduce this in Ont. I've been to LA and they don't have 10 digit dialing there, and there are many more people then the golden horseshoe.
...but we do. I believe I've been having to dial the 604 in Vancouver in front of the seven other digits now for 3 years (?). I've only seen the 778 area code out here for cell phones, never actually heard of a land line that used it but for cell's, the 778 is very common. Like most things you get used to it. I'm sure once I move to Kitchener/Waterloo I will be dialing 604 for at least a few weeks.

Rob
 
#22 ·
vid said:
No, just half of Southern Ontario, Actually, a third. Only about 8% of the actual province. 10% at most.

There is a northern part of the province. Of course, like people from Southern Ontario give a shit. :|
i was actually referring the fact that if you consider 519 (windsor, london, k-w) to be gta, you may as well consider kingston and ottawa gta as well, which is more than half of the residents of ontario when excluding the gta.
and i do give a shit about northern ontario, and i have been there. i really want to spend some time in thunder bay or sudbury. sault st marie doesnt appeal to me because its too flat. i have never been to north bay or timmins
 
#24 ·
carpanatomy said:
for us who lives in Toronto, we just get used to our number that's 10-digits long.
A lot of people complained when they first forced us to switch over to 10-digit dialing but it actually wasn't that hard to adjust at all
 
#25 ·
carpanatomy said:
same here.

My home is 416, my cell is 647, my office is 905 & 888, well, if toll-free number counts!! :)

Does anyone know when 647 will be running out? It look like 647 cell phones are just as many as 416 cell phones.
Check out Canada's equivalent to NANPA: CNA (Canadian Numbering Administration) select the appropriate area code (647 in this case) and it'll show you how many numbers are available and in which area they're available in as well. Keep in mind that each of these exchanges (the first three numbers of a phone number) have 1000 phone numbers each (0000 to 9999). There are plenty of exchanges that haven't been claimed yet, which may eventually go to land lines once all the 416 exchanges are used up.

They also have reports on handling area code exhaustion. I believe that Ottawa's 613 is up next for another area code, but they'd also like to work something out with Gatineau's 819. A geographic overlay perhaps? The only other area code to span two provinces/states/territories are NS/PEI 902 and the Territories' 867. It's avoided in the States.
 
#26 · (Edited)
JayeTheOnly said:
^^ I don't think so... Anyways.

hmmm... 289/905/416/647/705/519/226 all in the Greater Golden Horseshoe? DAMN!
We all know that 416/647 covers Toronto while 905/289 covers the majority of the GTA. The extreme northwest of the GTA (western half of Halton Hills and Milton and the northern half of Caledon) falls under 519/226 while the extreme northeast of the GTA (Simcoe's shores in York and Durham) fall under 705. At most it's a total of about a dozen exchanges (first 3 digits in the phone number) that belong to these "outside" area codes in the GTA.
 
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