Landline phones to cease in 2025?

[macafee2]

Originally Posted by clf

If you think of it, it actually makes sense (or made sense), as it allows for an expansion of subscribers as time moves on. Where I live, Carrickfergus, I can recall numbers being 5 digits, all beginning with 6 (up to 9999 subscribers), with a regional code of 09603. Whiteabbey, 5 miles away, also had 5 digit numbers, also beginning with 6, however, their outside dialing code was a Belfast regional code 0232 (even though it had its own exchange - Belfast region had so many exchanges). So if you moved into Carrickfergus from Whiteabbey, you couldnt take your number with you, as in the first instance, it was governed by a regional dialing code (this was dictated by the ability of the exchange) and also could also already be in use.

As an example, when I first moved out of home, my father's phone number then was 64375 (09603 regional dialing code) which means there was also a 64385 (this means something later). He had taken with us through 3 house moves since we first got a phone 20/25 years previously, because they were all in the Carrickfergus exchange area. My second house had the number 664385 which 10 years previously (before the exchange expansion/development) was 64385 (0232 regional code - Belfast). The 66 determined the exchange I was serviced by. In Whiteabbey (0232 regional code), you could not have had 64385 as it was already in use in the Belfast area (by the previous inhabitants to my house), but you could have 64385 in Carrickfergus, as it used a different region code. However, as subscribers increased, exchanges initially in Belfast added a digit determined by the exchange as opposed to region. Boucher exchange, in Belfast region (mine) had 6 added, Whiteabbey exchange, still in the Belfast region but 7 miles away from Boucher, added the number 8, so my number became 664385, and therefore you could have had 864385 in Whiteabbey (both having 0232 region codes). Therefore allowing duplication of numbers previously unavailable.

At this time Carrickfergus remained 5 digits, but this too eventually extended to 6 (using a 3 as the identifier - so you could have have had 64385 later becoming 364385) as subscribers increased.

Hope that makes sense.

With VoIP the as there will be no need for an exchange in the traditional manner, numbers could become a thing of the past. Exchanges will handle digital data lines only.

Think along the lines of email addresses/user names. You buy a VoIP phone and start to set it up, 'please choose a username' 'Macafee', 'please choose another username as this one is in use' Macafee1', 'please choose another username as this one is in use' 'Macafee2' 'please choose another username as this one is in use' 'Macafee3698' 'congratulations, you have successfully set up your new VoIP user name, now anyone calling you, can type 'Macafee3698' into their VoIP phone or computer to contact you' lol.

Then another person in your home could potentially have 'MrsMacafee75'. Effectively allowing you to have multiple 'lines' in your home active at the same time for one line rental, but controlled by a dedicated VoIP phone connected via WiFi (or an updated version of it) to a central hub. This central hub, is hard wired to a box on your skirting board, which goes to a pole/green box outside and to the exchange. In the future this hub could become wireless, connecting to a pole outside negating the need to hardwire into homes.

This technology actually exists now via apps (messengers, viber, whatsapp etc), and has actually done for decades (remember skype phones etc).

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My father started his first 3 or 4 years (of 37) in BT installing exchanges around the country too . By the way, if you have any cases from your BT days, look at their prices on eBay :O.

sorry I dont understand. Strowger allowed for OOA, Out Of Area phone lines.
The exchanges themselves had phone lines from another exchange in case an exchange went down. The engineers could then call other engineers for help etc. If that clunky noisy mechanical equipment could do it, I see no reason for a modern digital exchange not to be able to do it.
These phone numbers were at the time and I only worked in London so that is all I can comment on in the format of, 01 London, 992, in this case Acton but could have been 994, 995 etc and then 4 digits.
I am a bit hazey but the exchange OOA lines did not have to have the last 4 digits everytime.


System x and y the digital exchanges that replaced Strowger slashed staff numbers but the redundancy payment was something like 3 years plus something to do with the pension. Nearly 40 years ago some engineers were walking away with best part of £100,000. When I retired I visited a few of the exchanges I worked in when I started with BT, wow, at times hardly recognisable, no permanent staff, equipment just gathering dust, equipment I spent hours and hours installing now gone. Parts of buildings sold off.
The biggest problem with selling off an Exchange is or was the MDF, main distribution Frame. This is where the exchange equipment connects to the cables that go to peoples houses and business premises. The cost to move the MDF to another site was prohibitive but as technology improves I suspect the cost has come down. Some prime real estate!

I was lucky to be allowed to have two work benches used when strowger was around. My job allowed me to visit many exchanges so I picked two of the best. Damn good, solid, quality, work benches. My lathe sits on one and a vice is bolted to the other.

"Those were the days"


macafee2

[clf]

Originally Posted by macafee2

sorry I dont understand. Strowger allowed for OOA, Out Of Area phone lines.

The exchanges themselves had phone lines from another exchange in case an exchange went down. The engineers could then call other engineers for help etc. If that clunky noisy mechanical equipment could do it, I see no reason for a modern digital exchange not to be able to do it.

These phone numbers were at the time and I only worked in London so that is all I can comment on in the format of, 01 London, 992, in this case Acton but could have been 994, 995 etc and then 4 digits.

I am a bit hazey but the exchange OOA lines did not have to have the last 4 digits everytime.





System x and y the digital exchanges that replaced Strowger slashed staff numbers but the redundancy payment was something like 3 years plus something to do with the pension. Nearly 40 years ago some engineers were walking away with best part of £100,000. When I retired I visited a few of the exchanges I worked in when I started with BT, wow, at times hardly recognisable, no permanent staff, equipment just gathering dust, equipment I spent hours and hours installing now gone. Parts of buildings sold off.

The biggest problem with selling off an Exchange is or was the MDF, main distribution Frame. This is where the exchange equipment connects to the cables that go to peoples houses and business premises. The cost to move the MDF to another site was prohibitive but as technology improves I suspect the cost has come down. Some prime real estate!



I was lucky to be allowed to have two work benches used when strowger was around. My job allowed me to visit many exchanges so I picked two of the best. Damn good, solid, quality, work benches. My lathe sits on one and a vice is bolted to the other.



"Those were the days"





macafee2

I dont know how they worked themselves,but imagine an ooa (from a different exchange) moving to another area, with the same digits would cause an issue on even a digital line. Simply because it wouldn't know which one was correct. Unless you were suggesting you were remaining within the same exchange radius, but couldn't hold the number (assuming too that it was with the same provider - which used to be an issue, likely down to contract agreements, eg sky, talktalk and bt etc)

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