How many telephone numbers are possible?

Answer 1

It depends on the capacity of the networks server. In the UK we recently had an overhaul of the dialling codes system, as they were running out of codes. With the introduction of better computer systems, BT was able to increase the capacity of the network (using the new codes) to provide enough capacity for at least the next 20 years.

Answer 2

898 area codes x 889 exchanges x 10,000 numbers per exchange = 7,983,220,000 numbers.jk

or:

10 billion possible combos if each number can be 0-9 then that's ten numbers. and ten numbers in a phone number so 10x10x10x10x10x10x10x10x10x10=10 billion

Answer 3

It varies from country to country and also depends on the length of the number.

In the United Kingdom, the local telephone number without an area code normally cannot begin with '0', '1' or '999' to avoid clashes with area codes (beginning with '0'), special services (beginning with '1') or the emergency operator.

There are also technical issues with the way older, landline phone networks traditionally process numbers digit-by-digit sequentially, rather than analysing the whole number at once. This rules out having numbers of different lengths that begin with the same digits because, for example, if you had both 23456 and 234567 in the same area, the system would not be able to tell if somebody dialling 2-3-4-5-6 should be connected to the number '23456' or if it should carry on waiting for another digit in case they wanted 234567.

Theoretically, this allows the following combinations to be used:

• In area with a three digit area code and eight digit local phone numbers (such as London 020), local numbers 20000000 to 99899999 are available, a total of just under 79 million combinations.
• In areas with four digit area codes and seven digit local phone numbers (such as Glasgow 0141 or Bristol 0117), local numbers 2000000 to 9989999 are available, a total of just under 8 million combinations.
• In areas with five digit area codes and six digit local phone numbers, local numbers 200000 to 998999 are available, giving about 798,999 combinations.
• A few areas (like Worcester and Lancaster) have a mixture of five and six digit phone numbers, which further reduces the number of usable combinations. (For example, if the five digit number 54321 exists, it means that the ten six-digit numbers from 543210 to 543219 can't be used)

In practice, the actual availability of numbers is further complicated by the limitations of network technology and the need to issue numbers to phone companies in blocks of at least 1,000 rather than individually. For example, because the block of 10,000 numbers from (029) 2221 0000 to (029) 2221 9999 is reserved for Sky's customers in Cardiff, these numbers can't be used by any other phone company, even if Sky is not actually using them.

Answer 4

It depends first and foremost on how many digits in a phone number, but also on restrictions for various digit combinations.

In the United States, the first digit of a 7-digit local phone number cannot be 0 or 1, and the first three digits cannot be certain reserved combinations like 411, 911, or 950. The result is that there are a bit less than 8 million possible phone numbers per area code.

Answer 5

Within the North American telephone system (USA, Canada, and certain Caribbean-ish islands), telephone numbers are uniformly 7 digits within each area code.

There are 10 million possible 7-digit numbers; however, the quantity of possible phone numbers is lower than that, because not all 7-digit numbers are valid telephone numbers. In particular, the first digit cannot be a 0 or a 1; that immediately drops the number to 8 million. There are other combinations that are not permitted; for example, the first three digits cannot be 911. The exact list of unassignable numbers varies from location to location, but 7.8 million is a reasonable approximation of the quantity of potential telephone numbers in an area code.

Answer 6

The maximum number of phone numbers are 6.4 billion.

Answer 7

Well 10 digits * 9! numbers for each * 8!

that should give u an answer