In article , Clive Page
writes
Well we are getting in to questions of semantic, I fear, as to the
meaning of "dialling code". I still think that during the transition
period, when the local numbers were 7 digits long, and one could call
them by starting dialling 020... that, following the rules of the ITU
E.123, the space in the number should have preceded the local part of
the number, i.e. before the last seven digits. So that the number
could have been given either as 0171 xxx yyyy or with equal validity
0207 xxx yyyy.

No.

At that point the number was (0171) xxx yyyy.

It so happened that you could dial it as 020 7xxx yyyy, but that didn't
make the code 0207. It was just another way to dial it.

Many years ago, the code for Hockley[*] was 03704. A lack of blocking
in the switches meant that you could also dial Hockley numbers as
070224. That didn't make the code for Hockley be 070224; it was simply
another way of dialling it.
[*] This applied to all the Southend-on-Sea ring exchanges: Canewdon,
Hockley, and Shoeburyness. I *think* the last digit was 6, 4, and 2
respectively, but I may have them mixed up. Nevertheless the point
remains valid.

but it seems undeniable, if you read E.123 carefully.

Done. It remains deniable.

--
Clive D.W. Feather | Home:
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