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The Kentucky Public Service Commission has ordered a new area code for western Kentucky and tossed out an unpopular plan that would have required 10-digit dialing for local calls.
Splitting the 502 area code, the PSC on Monday ordered that most of western Kentucky use a new "270" area code and that the old "502" area code remain in use for Louisville, Bardstown, Frankfort and many surrounding communities.
The decision was a reversal of an earlier plan to impose an "overlay" area code that would have given the 270 area code only to new telephone numbers and required 10-digit dialing for all local phone calls. The commission said individuals at a recent series of public hearings overwhelmingly favored such a "geographic split" to deal with the growing shortage of telephone numbers in the 502 area.
Arthur Jackson, who spoke at a Nov. 6 public hearing on the topic in Owensboro, was pleased by the result of the commission's deliberations. The retired telephone company employee believes that having a different area code will be much easier for senior citizens than the switch to 10-digit dialing.
"I think that would be acceptable to everybody," Jackson said. "If we have to change, we would accept another area code rather than switching to 10-digit dialing."
Chuck Melander, an Owensboro businessman who spoke at the local hearing, also was pleased.
"The overlay scared me to death," said Melander, the president of an investment group that owns the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Owensboro. "They couldn't guarantee me that if we wanted more (telephone) lines, they would not give us a different area code."
In addition to public opinion, the commission cited several other factors in its decision. A major factor was the discovery that the 606 area code in central Kentucky also would run out of telephone numbers soon. Because the growth rate of telephone numbers in the 606 area is not as swift as it is in the 502 area, an area code overlay did not appear the most desirable option for that region. The commission believed it would be confusing to Kentuckians to have 10-digit local dialing with two co-existing area codes in one part of the state and seven-digit dialing with one area code in another.
The commission also considered the delay in the implementation of telephone number portability by the Federal Communications Commission. Telephone number portability will allow customers to keep their old telephone numbers, including the area code, whenever they move and will erode the importance of the geographic boundaries of area codes.
Although pleasing to many, the geographic change cannot be implemented as quickly as the area code overlay. The commission said creating the area code split would delay the implementation for several months. A six-month "permissive dialing period" will be provided in which telephone callers will receive a recorded reminder of the area code change.
©
1998 The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer
