Call from my home phone to my cell phone

[birdbernie]

When I call my cell phone from my home phone, it tells me the call is long distance.  Why would it be long distance?

[g-idk]

Hi @birdbernie , don't have an answer for you, but I just ran into a similar situation.  I went to call my neighbour across the hall who got a new cell phone with the area code 236 in it, they got the phone plan here in vancouver from fido but it will not let me call, it keeps saying long distance and to put a 1 in front before dialing, so I tried putting a 1 in front and sure enough it went through and I just checked my Shaw bill and they are charging me 30 cents long distance for the call, they only live across the hall from me go figure.  I don't understand either.  

[rstra]

@birdbernie @g-idk Is the exchange that you are calling local? With Canada wide calling many people don’t bother changing their cell numbers when they move, so you could potentially be calling a number that is not local. 

[g-idk]

Hi @rstra , yes it is a new plan they have and they were given a new number for here in Vancouver by Fido, they mentioned to me that this does on occasion happen, most people can call them normally local no 1 in front but some numbers called from here in Vancouver/Burnaby get the long distance message and to put a 1 in front of the number.  Just did a google search on the subject and there does seem to be some evidence of other people experiencing this issue. 

[birdbernie]

It is a new cell phone from freedom, which is local number starts with 236

[birdbernie]

My error. my home number is starts with 236 and my cell number starts with 778. both numbers should be local.

[rstra]

@g-idk Ya, then that has to be a Shaw routing issue.

@birdbernie As long as the numbers after those area codes are local, then it’s a Shaw issue.

[g-idk]

Thanks @rstra , I agree seems to be a shaw issue involving 236 and 778.   I'm 778 for home phone trying to call 236 exact opposite of the other poster @birdbernie .  Thanks for the advice.   

[rstra]

@g-idk  It is probably difficult to manage when they overlay those area codes, where you can be on one area code and your neighbour on a different code. They are no longer area codes, but, we’ve run out of phone number codes. 😀

[mdk]

@birdbernie -- my home number is starts with 236 and my cell number starts with 778. both numbers should be local.

No. The "778" is an "overlay" for all of British Columbia, on top of the original "604", and the later "250" overlay.

Thus, somebody in Victoria could be "778", and somebody in Prince George (or Vancouver) could be "778", but those 2 cities are not "local" to each other.

If the Victoria person is subscribed to Shaw Home Phone or Shaw Mobile or Rogers Mobility, and the Prince George person is similarly subscribed, then the Shaw/Rogers network will carry every call -- completely avoiding the Telus/Bell networks, and thus the call will be zero-rated.

However, with "number portability", the holder of a 778 number may have ported that number from Shaw to Telus. Thus, every call enters/leaves the Telus network, and is charged as "long distance" (for Shaw, at $0.05 per minute when calling from a land-line).

From the CRTC: area code 672 is to be set aside as the most suitable area code for future code relief in BC.

So, your issue may not be a "Shaw problem" -- there is just ONE registry for all 250/604/778/236 numbers within B.C., to define how to route every call within BC.  You may contact Shaw (or Telus or Bell or ...) , for them to consult that registry, to define what is "local".