New Area Code 343 for Ottawa

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by clynnog

By Ottawa do you mean the "City" of Ottawa, the Ottawa portion of the Ottawa-Gatineau CMA or the area that can currently call "Ottawa" phone numbers w/o LD charges. For the "City" of Ottawa route there are problems as people near Arnprior, Kemptville, etc, who are technically in the "City" of Ottawa typically have phone # exchanges that are also assigned to areas outside the "City" of Ottawa. (i.e people in the 'City' of Ottawa near Arnprior have 613 623 exchange #'s just like regular Arnprior folks yet there is no easy way to determine from the last 4 digits on a 613 623 whether or not they live in Arnprior proper or Ottawa proper.

What about all new activations get the new area code within the current 613. Most of the growth is via cell #'s...fax/pager activations have died out these days, haven't they?

That does seem to be the problem, indeed. The boundaries between exchanges would be more of a jagged edge rather than the clean political boundary of the amalgamated City of Ottawa (which is what I had in mind). The last split to be done in Canada (514/450) was easy to do because 514 just stayed on the Island of Montreal and thus the boundary was clear.

Another option would've been to split away the 613 Local Calling Area centered on Ottawa, which then would've included most of the adjacent municipalities but, again, with a jagged edge, so some of the municipalities would've ended up with two area codes.

I can see why the Overlay solution is the simplest one, but it would still make long-term sense IMHO to retain the geographic identifiability of an area code by splitting large territories like this one when relief is needed. At least you'd know whether the phone number you're dialing is in Ottawa or elsewhere in Eastern Ontario if it's 613 or 343.

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by Mille Sabords

I can see why the Overlay solution is the simplest one, but it would still make long-term sense IMHO to retain the geographic identifiability of an area code by splitting large territories like this one when relief is needed. At least you'd know whether the phone number you're dialing is in Ottawa or elsewhere in Eastern Ontario if it's 613 or 343.

Is the overlay the way it is going to go. I wonder what mandate the City of Ottawa has to debate this area code issue as it is a federal matter being imposed on many municipalities.

[harls]

Would it make sense to make Ottawa/Gatineau metro 613?

[vid]

Exchange demand has gone down. As people cancel pagers, faxes, and landlines, more extensions will free up.

Overlays are a cost saving measure. Unless you want to pay even more money for them to do the work to change the area code, an overlay is what you're getting.

When NWO got 807 in 1962, (we used to be 705) most communities didn't even have phones, or had one extension for the whole town. That made creating a new area code much easier. Eastern Ontario is nothing like that. Changing the area code for that many people would be too complex and costly.

It would make sense for the Ottawa/Gatineau metro to be under one area code, but it would be too much work for the phone companies.

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by vid

Exchange demand has gone down. As people cancel pagers, faxes, and landlines, more extensions will free up.

You are correct in terms of fax machine #'s going the way of the dodo...many 1 person home based businesses are just going with a cell that has lots of minutes on it. Pagers are pretty low these days in terms of new activations. Many families these days have a cell per person which adds up to new activiations pretty quickly.

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by harls

Would it make sense to make Ottawa/Gatineau metro 613?

The only area code that straddles a provincial boundary is 902 which serves PEI and NS. I gather that the overlay option is the one that will be used..i.e all new activations will be 343. Most of those will be new cell activations or new homes in growing communities.

[Acajack]

It’s a minor and quirky exception but the Ottawa/Eastern Ontario area code spills over into a tiny area of Quebec north of Pembroke where the village of Rapides-des-Joachims (near Rolphton and Chalk River) is actually in 613 instead of 819. The Quebec village is also only accessible by road from Ontario’s Highway 17 via a dam-bridge across the Ottawa River.

Also, I seem to recall that the phone numbers for federal government offices located in Hull used to have 613 numbers, but that was changed a few years ago. There “official” numbers are now all 819s, but I believe they still work if you dial them with the 613 area code.

Finally, the 819 area code, in addition to a big arc around the Montreal area in southwestern Quebec, actually used to cover the Eastern Arctic of the NWT before Nunavut was created. All three territories are now in the 867 area code.

[Acajack]

Gatineau in the same area code as Ottawa won’t ever fly.

It’s bad enough that cell phone repeaters in Gatineau often connect us as if we’re in Ottawa, which is especially frustrating when you call directory assistance, and have to spell out every single French word to some operator in Omaha, Nebraska who seems to think you just dropped off a spacecraft from Mars. Pretty annoying to be sitting in Quebec looking for a number in Quebec and have to spell out basic names like “Jacques Tremblay” or “Pierre Lapointe” that any 8-year-old in Quebec can spell quite easily… sort of like if you called 411 in the anglo world and having to painstakingly spell out “John Smith” to a clueless operator.

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by Acajack

It’s a minor and quirky exception but the Ottawa/Eastern Ontario area code spills over into a tiny area of Quebec north of Pembroke where the village of Rapides-des-Joachims (near Rolphton and Chalk River) is actually in 613 instead of 819. The Quebec village is also only accessible by road from Ontario’s Highway 17 via a dam-bridge across the Ottawa River.

Well spotted. There is also a small area of Ontario near Pointe Fortune (near exit 1 on the 417) that is in 450 and also a reverse sitaution where St. Regis, QC is in 613. St. Regis is in QC and part of the indian reserve near Cornwall, but St. Regis itself is only accessible via New York state.

[Acajack]

Thanks Clynnog. I had forgotten about Pointe-Fortune.

Didn’t know about St. Regis though. That’s a pretty "special" corner of the world I must say.

[Mille Sabords]

Looks like the new area code for Gatineau, when the time comes for its distributed overlay, will be either 871, 873, 431 or 468.
(source: http://www.cnac.ca/npa_codes/relief/613/relief_613.htm)

[Acajack]

I wonder what the probabilities are of this happening anytime soon. 819 covers much of Quebec from Abitibi in the west to the Eastern Townships. This area probably has a population of roughly one million people. Are area codes serving 1 million people running out of numbers these days? I have no idea. That’s why I’m asking the question.

When one considers how oddly shaped this area code is, it might be more logical to split it into to two, for example between the zone north and west of the St. Lawrence (Trois-Rivières, Gatineau, Val-d’Or, Rouyn-Noranda, etc.) and the more eastern part (Drummondville, Sherbrooke, etc.)

[eemy]

As I recall, it shouldn't run out for a long time; maybe 20 years or so? Now that there isn't any CO code protection between Ottawa and Gatineau, there are far more phone numbers available for 819.

[Mille Sabords]

Just as well, I'm not crazy about either of the four possible new area codes. At some point there was talk of having a concentrated overlay for Ottawa AND Gatineau but I guess that would've made too much sense. I agree they should split this code, of all the residual area codes in Canada this one has to be the least cohesive of'em all.

[harls]

I blame all of the 10 year olds with cell phones for this shortage.

[Bucolic Urbanity]

Originally Posted by Mille Sabords

Looks like the new area code for Gatineau, when the time comes for its distributed overlay, will be either 871, 873, 431 or 468.
(source: http://www.cnac.ca/npa_codes/relief/613/relief_613.htm)

Do you mean Gatineau or Ottawa or both ?

Personally, if all new phone activations in 613 become a new area code, that would work fine...that is what they did with 416/647 905/289 and 519/228? and I think that is what they are going to do (or already done) for 514.

I imagine that this demand on new phone #'s will die down soon once the new cell phone activation levels peter out. Most people who want a cell have one now.

[Deez]

Originally Posted by harls

I blame all of the 10 year olds with cell phones for this shortage.

I blame all of the federal government workers that are too important to be given an extension from a central number . I couldn't believe it when I found out that most fed employees have their own personal 7 digit number.

[Mille Sabords]

Originally Posted by Bucolic Urbanity

Do you mean Gatineau or Ottawa or both ?

Personally, if all new phone activations in 613 become a new area code, that would work fine...that is what they did with 416/647 905/289 and 519/228? and I think that is what they are going to do (or already done) for 514.

I imagine that this demand on new phone #'s will die down soon once the new cell phone activation levels peter out. Most people who want a cell have one now.

Ottawa already has a new area code lined up, 343. It will probably be phased in around 2010-2011 as 613 runs out of numbers. The new area code is an overlay, as was done in Toronto with 647 on top of 416, and in Montreal with 438 on top of 514.

Area code 819, which covers Gatineau and a strangely-shaped chunk of Quebec, will get a new area code some time in a more distant future when it runs out of numbers. I would venture that Gatineau is probably the biggest originator of new numbers in that whole area code but, by itself, it isn't big enough to warrant a split to see Gatineau only keep 819.

[wingman]

Originally Posted by Deez

I blame all of the federal government workers that are too important to be given an extension from a central number . I couldn't believe it when I found out that most fed employees have their own personal 7 digit number.

It's true. I work for an unnamed Federal Department and I believe every single person here has their own 7 digit number. It's because of the system we are on I believe (I think we are on a Centrex system)... prob very costly now to change it. Don't forget about all the fax and cell numbers too - every office has at least 1 fax and many people have a land line AND a cell. To me that is a waste. You only need 1 phone for goodness sakes... if you have a cell you should HAVE to give up your land line... though the 934, 953, 956, 997 numbers will never be released to the public so maybe it makes no difference for the land lines. But the cell phone get regular numbers - there never were any cell numbers set aside for the feds.

C'est la vie.

[c_speed3108]

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. It's because of the system we are on I believe (I think we are on a Centrex system)... prob very costly now to change it. Don't forget about all the fax and cell numbers too - every office has at least 1 fax and many people have a land line AND a cell. To me that is a waste. You only need 1 phone for goodness sakes... if you have a cell you should HAVE to give up your land line... though the 934, 953, 956, 997 numbers will never be released to the public so maybe it makes no difference for the land lines. But the cell phone get regular numbers - there never were any cell numbers set aside for the feds.

C'est la vie.

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

As far as offices with direct to desk numbers vs extensions: Unless it is a work place with very light phone usage a huge number of lines will still be needed and all lines have numbers regardless of whether they are ever dialed. This includes things like payphones. 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.