The Right Call On Area Codes

August 22, 1999

BY MICHELLE STEVENS SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

When it comes to numbers, I'm near the end of my rope.

And things could get worse when northern Illinois eventually gets three new area code overlays--a change that will add another set of numbers to be remembered, and 11 digits to dial for every call.

Aaaarrrrggghhh!!

I'm already having trouble remembering all the numbers I'm required to know during the course of the day.

I'm not senile yet, but I find myself having to stop and think when asked a question as simple as "What's your fax number?"

There are just too many numbers to remember easily.

At work, there's my phone and fax number, along with a separate set of passwords and numbers to remember in order to gain access to the computer, library, Internet and copy machine.

At home, there's my own phone number and a fax number to keep track of, along with my cell phone number and the home and work numbers of relatives and friends.

Then there is the Social Security number and credit card numbers. Add in the various passwords and personal identification numbers I need to remember to do business at different banks, and the experts warn against writing the PIN number anywhere near the card itself, to keep a thief from emptying your account if your purse or wallet is stolen.

And if you fill out an application for just about anything, you might need your driver's license number.

The present profusion of numbers needed to conduct everyday business is why last week's news about three new area codes coming to the Chicago area caused some angst.

The only thing keeping me from going over the edge is knowing that I am not alone in dreading the prospect of adding another 11-digit phone number to my already overloaded memory bank.

In desperation, I called the Citizens Utility Board, which has been acting as a white knight for Illinois consumers in its phone wars. Can anything be done to make things simpler and avoid dialing 11 numbers even for local phone calls?

"There's no going back now," said Seamus Glynn, associate director of CUB, sounding like a sympathetic psychiatrist. "That would be like going back to the days when there was only one phone company."

Remember? Ten years ago, the United States had 119 area codes, each clearly designating a geographical area. Chicago was area code 312.

Then came the proliferation of computers, modems, faxes, pagers and cell phones--each requiring a phone number. It was inevitable that phone numbers would run out.

The Federal Communications Commission ignored sensible suggestions to keep things sane and orderly: Wired phones in homes and businesses would keep the familiar area code; wireless phones and adjunct computer equipment would be assigned a different area code.

The agency instead chose to subdivide existing area codes.

Downtown Chicago and the surrounding neighborhoods kept area code 312. Individuals and businesses outside that lucky zone have had to deal with the inconvenience and expense of ordering new stationery and business cards, reprogramming our telephones, modems, faxes and cell phones, and in general getting used to dialing a different area code: 773.

Confusion has reigned ever since. And the problem will get worse unless something is done--fast. There are 215 area codes in the United States now, and 70 of those are in danger of running out of usable numbers in the next year or two.

The FCC realizes something must be done to quell consumers' anger and angst over new area codes. The agency might adopt a CUB proposal to pool available numbers and award them to phone companies in blocks of 1,000 numbers instead of 10,000.

Phone companies would have to assign 75 percent of the numbers in their inventory before applying for another block of 1,000 numbers.

More important, the FCC should end the ban on assigning different area codes for different technology. I say assign new area codes to the millions of wireless phones and other mobile equipment if it will delay indefinitely the day when everyone is getting numb fingers--and numb minds--from dialing 11 numbers to make a local call.