> The problem merely arose from the North-American, that includes Canadian,
 > telephone companies who are the only ones in the world who do not follow the
 > ITU numbering-standard.
 >
 > Had they followed it then:
 >
 > * 911 would be 112 (the whole of Europe went through the pains of this
 >   adaption as well, so it can be done)
 > * there would be no long-distance numbers starting with 12, hence a
 >   1-12x-xxx-xxxx would not exist
 > * we would not be have this exchange of ideas
 >
 >  \%/{at}rd
 >


I think however, there was more then just a refusal to change.  I
would think that at the time this proposal came about, the number of
active phones in Europe was rather small compared to the number of
active phones in North America.  In 1954 we got a phone upon arriving
here in Canada.  Ther was barely any waiting time involved.  You order
the phone and it was there within a week.  In 1964, the waiting time n
Germany to get a phone was something like a year, I was told, and,
every minute was metered to boot.

I know things have changed since then.  Now you may have to wait as
much as a month here at times, and the waiting time in Europe is about
at par.

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