800 Number Shortages Lead FCC to Consider Rationing

The force behind the demand for toll-free numbers is not only the traditional business use: a growing market is comprised of residential customers. If rationing is implemented, obtaining a new toll free number will be more difficult than ever before.

The popularity of the 1-800 number, launched in 1967, led the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to add the new pre-fixes 888 and 877 in the mid-1990s. When availability of those numbers plummeted, 866 was added in 2000 to overcome the shortage. Since then, there have been no new pre-fixes introduced and supplies are rapidly shrinking.

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