Any way to tell if number y is a local call from number x?

[canam101]

The only way I know of to do this is to check the list at the front of the phone book, but that's only good for local numbers.

Is there any sort of web-based comparison that will give you the information for any two numbers?

[mberlant]

In the US, Verizon offers such a lookup service for any number in their territory. What country are you in?

[canam101]

I'm in Canada, but was pointed to a website that gives the information for both Canada and the US:

http://www.localcallingguide.com/lca_index.php

I found what I wanted under 'area codes', but there seems to be a lot of information that might be useful to others as well.

[ben77]

http://www.quentinsagerconsulting.co...lennd_dist.cgi

This link will track the miles between the hone numbers. Local usa calls are 13 miles or less.

Very handy site, allows 10 look ups a day.

[mberlant]

Local calling areas in the US vary in radius by phone company, local geography and State Public Utilities Commission dictate. Some Rate Centers are local to no other Rate Centers and some are local to ones tens of miles away. A good example of a local calling area that is well more than 13 miles in radius is Dallas, Texas. Virtually all of 214, 972 and 469 are members of one big local calling area.

[DracoFelis]

Originally Posted by mberlant

Local calling areas in the US vary in radius by phone company, local geography and State Public Utilities Commission dictate.

And the point that "local calling area" can vary with telco is worth repeating, because it's a key (often overlooked) point.

Simply put, what is a "local calling area" for someone calling via one telco might not be the same as someone using a different telco to complete the call! And with some telcos, they even have multiple choices for "local calling area", based upon which phone plan you sign up for. As such, "local calling area" is a bit of a meaningless concept in isolation. To meaningfully talk about "local calling area", you also need to know what telco is being used (by the calling party), and (in some cases) also what calling plan you are subscribed to (with that telco).

Since the info can vary so much with telco (and even calling plan within the telco), I personally think the best place to get this info is the telcos themselves. Just call up and ask (if their web sites don't already contain the desired info)! For example, back in the 90's I ran a small public (dial-up) BBS from my home. As such, I needed to know what area codes and prefixes my telco considered "local", in order to configure the "call cost" info, for when the BBS made calls to "network" with other BBS systems, into my BBS software). Since the local phone book didn't contain this info, I just called my telco's "customer service" and explicitly asked for the "local calling area" area code/prefix list for my area). At first, they tried to give me a list of "towns" that were "local", but when I informed them that I couldn't program "towns" into my phone equipment (and therefore needed the actual prefixes for those towns), they happily provided me the prefix list for free. While I haven't tried getting local prefixes that way for years (since I now have VoIP with "unlimited" USA/Canada calling), I would be surprised if the OP couldn't still do the same (i.e. call the telco's customer service line, and ask).