Which phone numbers are free of charge?

No phone numbers are provided free of charge. The North American Numbering Plan Association provides telephone numbers to service providers. The service providers then pay a percentage of their revenues to the Federal Communications Commission, which passes the money to the NANPA to cover the cost of operating the system.

Phone numbers are provided at-cost to telecom service providers. If a provider doesn't earn any revenue with the phone number, then there is no cost.

Since an FCC regulatory decision in 1995, all phone numbers are treated equally. There is no difference between a cell phone number or a land line number. All phone numbers are subject to the same rules, costs and limitations.