The phone is one of the most used devices in our daily life. Everyone needs at least one phone number to receive calls and messages on the phone. Thanks to these phone numbers, we can receive and make calls and send messages.
In addition to these three basic features, mobile applications require a phone number for verification even during registration. In short, these phone numbers starting with 10 digits seem to have become a part of our lives. Have you ever thought about why they have 10 digits before? Let’s see why together.
When phone numbers first appeared, they started with names instead of numbers.
The first two letters of the person’s name were usually written in capital letters and were an example of the digits of the telephone numbers on the telephone dial. To understand this alphanumeric system, open the search section on your phone and you will see the letters ‘M,N,O’ under 6 and ‘T,U,V’ under 8.
To give an example of such phone numbers, we take a scene from the sitcom I Love Lucky, which was shot in the past years. In the images in one scene, the phone number of MUrray Hill 5-9975 appears. This Murray Hill 5-9975 phone number in the scene actually corresponds to 68 5-9975.
This system is for people who want to make phone calls; It was removed due to confusing letters due to their similarity, increased number of wrong searches, and less number and name combinations. In the following times, it was gradually passed to 10-digit numbers.
Now let’s see why 10-digit numbers are used:
Indirect population growth caused this situation.
As the world’s population is constantly increasing, the number of mobile phone numbers available must outnumber phone users. If we take India as an example, the current population of the country is 1,367,938,326 according to the United Nations report calculated in 2019. The population is expected to increase to 1.7 billion by 2060, so existing phone numbers must outnumber the population.
Let’s dive into 10-digit numbers through permutations and combinations.
How many single digit numbers do we know? Answer 10. How many different combinations of numbers occur if the phone numbers are 2 digits? There are 10×10=100 combinations. Likewise, how many combinations would occur if phone numbers were 9 digits? The answer is 1 million combinations. Now let’s find the combination of 10 digit numbers. This gives us 10 billion different combinations. This combination does not seem easy to overcome with phone numbers.
Do all countries use 10-digit phone numbers? Answer is no
Not all countries are required to use 10-digit numbers. In general, these numbers vary according to the population. 6-digit phone numbers are used in the Oceania island country named Niue, where 1,620 people live, according to 2018 data. Technically speaking, the combination of 6 digits seems to be enough for them.
China, on the other hand, has a huge population and therefore needs more phone numbers. For this reason, phone numbers up to 12 digits are used in China. Based on this situation, India, which has a large population, may switch to 11 and 12 digit numbers in the future.
Additionally: Numbers starting with 555 are preferred for movies in America. And why?
If you have watched the Ghostbusters movie, you will see a number starting with 555 appear on the screen. This is present in many American movies and TV shows. In the story of the production, if a phone number needs to be given, a number starting with 555 appears directly in front of us.
The answer to this situation is simple. Numbers starting with 555 don’t work in America, so they’re featured in movies and TV shows. If a big fan wants to call all the time, these numbers cannot be reached. Additionally, the 555 was a switchboard combination not used very often in the American telephone system.
What do you think about the use of 10-digit phone numbers?
Sources: Numberbarn, Talkroute, Science ABC, Pritesh Pawar, Business Insider
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