|
Area
Codes of Utah |
PSC opts for an 'overlay' rather than geographic split |
Say hello to a new area code — and to dialing 10 digits for a local phone call. |
Citing several reasons, the Utah Public Service Commission opted Thursday to bring on the new |
385 telephone area code through an "overlay" rather than through a geographic split of the existing |
801 area. The new code takes effect next year. |
 |
With an overlay, the 385 area code will be assigned to new phone numbers throughout the five- |
county Wasatch Front region after the 801 code is depleted. One result is that existing customers |
will keep their phone numbers. Another will be that callers will need to dial 10 digits for local calls. |
In announcing the area code plans Thursday, the commission said an overlay is "much less |
disruptive" for customers and "treats all business and residential customers in Weber, Morgan, |
Davis and Utah counties the same by allowing them to retain their telephone numbers." |
Had the commission opted for the geographic split, only Salt Lake County customers would have |
retained the 801 area code and their current phone numbers, while those in the four other counties |
would have switched to 385. |
"All customers in the four counties would incur the costs and inconvenience of changing their |
numbers to the new 385 area code if a split were adopted," the commission said. |
"All customers in the four counties would incur the costs and inconvenience of changing their |
numbers to the new 385 area code if a split were adopted," the commission said. |
The overlay also will avoid confusion, because all long-distance calls will require 11-digit dialing |
and a split still would have required Salt Lake and Davis county customers to dial 10 digits to call |
one another. "The use of 10-digit dialing cannot be entirely avoided regardless of whether an area |
code split or overlay is selected," the commission said in its Thursday order. |
The commission noted that several other states have found overlays "easy to implement, and |
customers have been very satisfied." |
"This experience has shown that difficulties with widespread customer confusion with an area code |
overlay did not materialize as feared," the commission order stated. |
The commission also said that technological innovations and telephone device reprogramming have |
made customers less dependent on dialing numbers to place calls, and the overlay method was |
supported by the telecommunications industry and the state Division of Public Utilities. The Utah |
Committee of Consumer Services also advocated the overlay. |
The commission sought public written comments on the overlay and split options, and it said |
Thursday it received "a number" of them, with some favoring an overlay and some favoring a split. |
Telecom companies and the division will be required to file periodic reports to the commission on |
their plans to implement the overlay. |
The overlay transition is expected to occur first through a "permissive" period, during which |
customers would be able to dial either seven or 10 digits for local calls. A "mandatory" period |
would follow, and callers trying to use only seven digits for a local call would get a recording |
reminding them to dial the area code first. |
The new area code implementation was first ordered in 2000, but number-conservation measures |
postponed its activation. At a technical conference in April, the commission said that new phone |
numbers are expected to exhaust the 801 area code by June 2008. |
Telecom companies preferred the overlay method in 2000, but the commission found it |
"unacceptable," citing several reasons but saying it was "primarily concerned with minimizing the |
impact on the general populace." People attending four public hearings that year voiced support for |
the split. |
But telecom representatives in April said customer habits and preferences had changed since 2000 |
and that a split would be confusing and costly to customers having to switch to the 385 code. In |
particular, small businesses with a new area code could be hurt as customers try to call them with |
the old area code, they said. |
The telecom reps also noted at the time that burglar and fire alarm companies would need early |
notification if an overlay were used because some still program systems using seven-digit numbers. |
Telephone directory companies are expected to begin listing numbers in a 10-digit format. |
| |
E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com |
- |
- |
- |
- |
Current Area Code 435 |
Home | Area Codes | Cities & Counties | Climate | Credits | Crime | Dining | Education | Entertainment | Government |
Health | History | Hot Springs | Industry | Lakes | Lodging | Maps | Media | Mountains | Museums | Olympics | Parks |
People | Photo Gallery | Quick Facts | Recreation & Sports | Religion | Rivers | Sites | Travel | Weather | Disclaimer
