Study: 1-800 Phone Sex Monopoly

Tuesday, 19 April 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Dial a 1800 number recently? Chances are the message on the other side made you blush. According to a recent survey done by the AP,  a small Pennsylvania-based company has been quietly buying up 1800 numbers—they now own more than a quarter of those available—in the US and Canada over the past 13 years. And despite the plethora,  all the numbers end up in the same place: a phone sex service. PrimeTel Communications now owns 800 numbers, more than other company including phone giants Verizon and AT&T.

PrimeTel’s strategy is to grab a number as soon as it comes on the market. For example, 1-800-Windy City used to direct callers to a Chicago tourism office. Now, the number prompts an offer for “one-on-one talk with a nasty girl.” Telecommunications experts say the company must get enough business from wrong numbers-turned-new customers for the strategy to make fiscal sense.