The invention provides a method and apparatus for communication and
provision of routing address information. The prior owner of a called
telephone number is referred to herein as a "prior subscriber". When a
number is released by a prior subscriber, it is placed into a database
referred to as the "spare pool" which includes available (unsubscribed)
telephone numbers. When a caller dials a number that is in the spare
pool, the invention intercepts the call and takes any number of possible
actions. In one embodiment, the invention automatically forwards the
caller to a new number based on a database that stores the new number of
the prior subscriber or routes the caller to a message that gives the
caller the option (either via a charge or after listening to an
advertisement) of being connected to, or being given, the current number
of the prior subscriber.