805 area code on overload!

805 area code on overload

Filed 2:00 - 1/3/97

By LOIS HENRY

Californian staff writer

Area code overload has finally hit good ol' 805.

Kern County has watched from afar as area codes in the Bay area and Los Angeles region were stretched to capacity and new ones brought in to fill the need. New technology has created an insatiable demand for more telephone numbers to accommodate facsimile machines, Internet connections, pagers and cellular phones.

Now it's our turn.

Any area code has a capacity of 7.9 million numbers, according to Doug Hescox, California's area code relief coordinator. And 805 is getting up there along with about 10 other area codes, which will be reconfigured so the state can add more codes throughout the year.

In fact, plans call for doubling California's existing 13 area codes to 26 by the year 2001.

Area code 805 which covers all of Santa Barbara County, the majority of Kern, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties, the northern tip of Los Angeles County and small portions of Monterey, Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties will be split along as-yet unknown geographic lines to be announced in the third quarter of 1997. The new area code number will also be announced at that time.

Hescox said a series of public meetings will be held before the end of June to discuss the situation, and the ensuing plan must then be submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission and administrators at Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), the organization that administers the North American Numbering Plan. The dates and locations of the meetings have yet to be announced.

``Ouch,'' was the initial reaction from Greg Whitney, executive director of Kern Economic Development Corp.

He had no way of estimating what such a change may cost local businesses, but there's no doubt it will cost them something.

``The primary expense will be in changing business cards, letterhead, forms, invoices and advertising,'' he said. ``I've been in areas where this has happened and it is inconvenient, but everyone survives and you just go on. You hope you've thought about all the ways it could impact you and haven't forgotten anything.''

The new area code taking on portions of the 805 territory is expected to be in use by early 1999.

``I'm not surprised,'' said Pete Leveroni, vice president and partner for American Communications Network Inc. ``I think this reflects the growth of not only Kern County but the entire telecommunications industry. It's a minor inconvenience, but, like voice mail, people will get used to it.''

Before acceptance, however, Hescox and Pacific Telesis spokesman Eric Johnson admitted there is quite a bit of denial and even anger. ``Area code splits can be contentious in that no one ever volunteers to have their number changed,'' Johnson said. Pacific Telesis is the parent company of Pacific Bell, which services most of California.

``The process is just starting,'' Johnson said. ``This is the beginning of a two-year window to discuss boundaries and, once the boundaries are drawn, which side keeps 805 and which side gets the new number.''

Eastern Kern County has already made it through that process. The 619 area code will be split on March 22, leaving Ridgecrest and the Kern River Valley with 760 as their new code.

Area code 619 now covers a wide area from San Diego up the back side of the Sierras to Bishop and into Kern, reaching Ridgecrest and the Kern River Valley area. In March, 619's territory will be constricted to the San Diego area.

Though area codes so far have been given to various areas based on geographic splits, there is another option that may come into use after 2001 called an overlay.

``Overlay is a method to provide area code relief by allowing existing customers to keep their area codes and, as of a given date, new area codes would be assigned to people starting up service,'' Johnson explained.

``The benefit is, no existing customers would need to change their phone numbers. But you would be, in some instances, dialing all 10 numbers to get some people even if they live right across the street,'' he said.

Under overlays, next-door neighbors might have different area codes, but calls wouldn't be charged as long distance, Johnson said.

The California Public Utility Commission recently approved the use of the overlay method, but not until 2001.

In the meantime, questions remain as to who will be keeping 805 and who will be scrambling to get new letterhead.

``There are a number of factors that go into deciding who gets the new area code,'' Hescox said. ``Population has something to do with it. But we also try to balance the lives of the area codes so we're not back in there splitting them again in the next few years.''

He said he does try to keep communities together in the same code and impact as few people as possible.

``We also try to use natural dividing lines, such as mountains, county lines or even freeways, so people can visualize the boundaries,'' he said.

This change may be painful, but Hescox said the future will be anything but calm in the telephone numbers game.

Already, area code relief coordinators, such as Hescox, have been forced to delve into area codes that don't have the traditional 0 or 1 as the second digit, such as the 760 code that will soon govern long distance calls to parts of eastern Kern County. Using the new type of codes has added about 30 years of life to the North American Number Plan.

But telecommunications numbering committees are looking beyond that solution to expanding the traditional 10-digit phone number by at least one numeral.

``People think an area code split is painful and traumatic,'' Hescox said. ``All our numbers from the faxes to voice mail are based on a 10-digit system so adding another digit would be very, very difficult.''

This phenomenon isn't unique to the United States, he said. The international telephone number code just went to 15 digits because Europe and parts of Asia are running out of numbers.

``It's not something we can take lightly,'' Hescox said.