GeoIP database issues and the real world consequences

Wed Apr 13 15:31:47 UTC 2016

>There are similar problems with phone numbers. Google's libphonenumber,
>for example, will tell you that +1 855 266 7269 is in the US. It's not,
>it's Canadian. It appears that for any NANP "area code" that isn't
>assigned to a particular place libphonenumber just says "it's in the US"
>instead of "it's in one of the NANP countries".

Actually, it's probably both US and Canadian.  When you call an 8xx
toll free number, the switch uses a database to route the call to
whatever carrier handles it, who can then do whatever they want.  The
provider for that number, Callture, is in Ontario but they can
terminate the calls anywhere, and send each call to a different lace.

Also, in fairness, the US is about 90% of the NANP, so guessing that
an 8XX number is in the US is usually correct.

R's,
John