The committee considered an eight-bit code, since eight bits (octets) would allow two four-bit patterns to efficiently encode two digits with binary-coded decimal.
ðə kəmˈɪɾi kənsˈɪdɚd ɐn ˈeɪtbˈɪt kˈoʊd, sˈɪns ˈeɪt bˈɪts ɑːktˈɛts wʊd ɐlˈaʊ tˈuː fˈoːɹbˈɪt pˈætɚnz tʊ ɪfˈɪʃəntli ɛŋkˈoʊd tˈuː dˈɪdʒɪts wɪð bˈaɪnɚɹikˈoʊdᵻd dˈɛsɪməl.