+13 Since most people never change their numbers, mobile phone area codes are a permanent snapshot of where everyone lived in the early 2000s, amirite?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Changed my number, but kept the area code

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I have the same cell number since 1998. The current area code for my town didn't exist when I got the phone.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

This is true. I've lived in CA for 15 years but have a 214 number. This turns out to be insanely helpful in avoiding robospam.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

*everyone in places that give mobile numbers geographic locations. i.e. not most of Europe, for instance. I was bemused when I found out US mobile numbers were like that, seemed very odd to encode a physical location into something that is inherently, well, mobile

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I was going to say! I mean, I have had the same number for 25 years now, and the prefix code I have isn't even used anymore (is that a flex of some kind? Idk) But area codes in mobile numbers? I was today years old when I found out that is a thing in the US. Do they charge local rates for calls to a mobile that has the same area code? That would be wild. (Here in Aus all calls to mobiles are long distance rates ... But I haven't made a personal phone call in years so it doesn't affect me really)

by Anonymous 2 years ago

TIL: Zip codes (US) introduced in 1963, the basic format consisted of five digits. In 1983, an extended ZIP+4 code was introduced; it included the five digits of the ZIP Code, followed by a hyphen and four digits that designated a more specific location. ZIP is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

That's awesome and all…but this is about area codes?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I think my number has changed at some point but it would have been around '06-'07. So 14-15 years I've had this one.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I got my number in 1995

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I think you'll find that most people don't have the same number they had in the early 2000s. What percentage of the developed world even had cell phones in the early 2000s?

by Anonymous 2 years ago

A lot of people I know had them in 2000. I lived in London in 1998 and had one. I also still have my same phone number for over 20 years.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

I have the same number since 1994, and the rest of my family of 6…. Same crappy AT&T service… but when they are the ONLY provider, than thats what your stuck with… WA

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Who goes through the trouble of keeping a number? Asking for a friend.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Anyone who doesn't want spend 50 times that amount time, trying get their number changed everywhere else Then finding out all their two factor authentication logins are broke, they keep missing important phone calls, etc.

by Anonymous 2 years ago

Is it a lot of trouble to port a phone number?

by Anonymous 2 years ago