Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 15, 1995 TAG: 9504170059
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
Before long, 888 numbers will be here, too, and the nation's phone companies are hoping consumers will think the same.
The number of toll-free 800 lines shot up 50 percent last year to 5.7 million, a growth rate that at first excited phone companies and then sent them scrambling.
With 7.5 million numbers available in an area code, all the 800 numbers could be used up before year's end.
Phone companies have decided to use 888 as the next toll-free area code, followed in order by 877, 866 and on down to 822.
But several problems remain, including how to prevent millions of wrong numbers, how to charge for misdials and what to do for companies that have invested huge sums in promoting vanity numbers like American Express' 1-800-THE-CARD.
Part of the reason the 800 numbers are getting exhausted is the same as that for traditional area codes - exploding use of mobile phones, pagers, fax machines and computers. Demand also has grown for personal 800 lines, chiefly among families with children at college or in which an adult travels for work.
No one knows yet when the first 888 numbers will go in use, although April 1, 1996, is now considered the most likely date. Phone equipment makers and software programmers first must get communications networks ready and there is some concern that may not happen before 800 numbers are exhausted.
The addition of 888 numbers raises a challenge for companies that have developed a marketing identity with their 800 line. For instance, the flower delivery company 1-800-FLOWERS Inc. doesn't want 1-888-FLOWERS to go to a competitor.
Phone companies meet later this month on the issue, but several said firms with vanity numbers are likely to get first rights to the same number using the new 888 code.
by CNB