Why Is the Telephone Number 555 Used on TV?

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Characters on TV shows are always giving out phone numbers. But they don't really want you to call them. The prefix is always 555. Why?

555 I not a real telephone number, of course. But there are rules surrounding the use of 555.

"This 'fake' prefix ensures that a viewer cannot dial the number and bother the subscriber to whom that telephone number is assigned," according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Fake phone numbers for movies and television use a range of numbers, from 555-0100 to 555-0199.

Older TV viewers might remember the days before 555. Before the 555 exchange was established, prefixes such as GRAMERCY, PLAZA or KLONDIKE were used.

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