(Cushing, Okla) – In case you didn’t have enough numbers to keep track of, here’s three more to remember and use: your area code.
Come Saturday, you’ll need it to place any call, local or long distance. Most mobile phone users are already accustomed to the change and if you’ve stored numbers with the area code on them, you’re good to go.
However, land line phone users will now have to dial all ten digits for any call, which is of course a significant change.
The reason is that the number of available 918 area code numbers is dwindling rapidly, and without the addition of an additional area code, there would not be enough numbers to handle all the mobile phones, fax and computer lines. The phase in of the new 539 area code actually started last summer, but the grace period will end Saturday.
The Oklahoma Corporation Commission issued a press release that contains answers to many of the questions you may have about the changeover.
It is available in PDF form here, and is reprinted below. Some formatting has been lost in the reprint.
FROM THE OKLAHOMA CORPORATION COMMISSION
918/539 SCHEDULE AND FAQ’s
After months of town hall meetings with the public, meetings with state and local officials, meetings with industry, media outreach and a consumer survey, on January 4, 2010 the Oklahoma Corporation Commission approved a plan to prevent so-called “number exhaust” in the region served by the 918 area code while at the same time allowing current residents, businesses, schools and local governments to keep their existing numbers.
Called an “overlay,” the plan will add another area code (539) to the entire existing 918 area code geographic area. There will be no change to existing numbers. Eventually, all new numbers
in the area will get the new 539 area code. Under Federal Communication Commission (FCC) rules, overlays must include a requirement for 10-digit dialing for local calls. After a lengthy
transition phase which began August 2010, all local phone calls in the 918/539 area code will require 10 digits (the area code and the 7 digit number) starting March 5, 2011. There will be no
change in local call boundaries, or to such services as 9-1-1 or 2-1-1.
The following pages contain the schedule of the program, Frequently Asked Questions, and contact listings for more information.
SCHEDULE
.
August 7, 2010 – “Permissive Calling Period” began
o Customers can complete a call using 7 digits or 10 digits (area
code plus number)
o Customers should be making sure any equipment related to local calls is set up for 10-digit local calling and is working properly.
.
March 5, 2011 – “Permissive Calling Period” ends,
10-digit dialing will be required.
.
April 1, 2011 – New 539 area code numbers made available
o Customers may still ask for and receive a 918 number if they are still available
.
Fourth Quarter, 2012 – Predicted exhaust of 918 numbers
o NOTE: This is an estimate, and subject to change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: If all local calls require an area code, will there be long distance charges?
A: No. There will be no change in what is a local call, regardless of its area code. The change in the area code does not change whether a call is local. For example, if you have a 918 number and call a 539 number that’s located in an area that was part of the
original local calling area, it will be still be a local call. Please note that for all local calls, you will NOT need to dial a “1” before the area code, and any call improperly dialed with a “1” will automatically be blocked.
Q2: How will I know when I will have to start using 10-digit dialing?
A: You should be dialing 10 digits now, during the “permissive” dialing period (which began August, 2010), but you won’t be required to dial 10 digits until March 5, 2011. At that time, calls made using only 7 digits will not be completed, and you will
hear a recording instructing you to hang up and dial again using the proper area code.
Q3: If 539 numbers won’t be available until April 1, 2011, why does mandatory 10-digit dialing start almost a month before then?
A: This period is set aside to be sure the system is operating properly, and to give users more time to become accustomed to 10-digit dialing.
Q4: How will I know whether to use 539 or 918 for a particular number?
A: Local telephone listings will include the area code.
Q5: Will this be the first time 10 digit dialing has been required?
A: No. In recent years, the vast majority of area code changes in the U.S. have employed an overlay with resulting 10-digit dialing. It is expected that eventually all local calls in the U.S. will require 10-digit dialing for local calls. Four states (Connecticut, Maryland, West Virginia and Oregon) are now entirely 10-digit for local
calls.
Q6: Will I be able to request a 918 number in the future?
A: Yes. However, whether your request can be granted depends on whether there are 918 numbers available at the time of your request.
Q7: Why is it necessary to dial the area code and the seven-digit number (10 digits) for overlays?
A: That’s a requirement of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
10-digit dialing is a regulatory requirement established for an overlay area code by the FCC in its Second Report and Order (FCC 96-333) to mitigate any anti-competitive effects that would advantage incumbent providers and disadvantage new providers and their customers, and to ensure dialing equality between the two area codes.
This dialing requirement results from a concern that customers in the original area code and customers within the overlay area code would have different dialing arrangements for the same geographic area. Those in the original area code could reach a
party in their same geographic area with a seven-digit call, while those in the overlay area code would have to dial 10 digits to reach the same party.
Q8: Why is this change necessary? Why are we running out of numbers?
A: In recent years a combination of new technologies and increased demand for regular telephones in homes and offices, cellular and PCS phones, pagers, lines used for fax machines, modems, burglar alarms, ATM machines, internet access, and other uses have strained existing telephone number resources. Also, new local telephone service providers need telephone numbers in order to provide service to their customers. All of
these factors have resulted in an increased demand for numbers in the 918 area code. As a result, telephone number shortages have occurred at what’s called the prefix level. A prefix is the three-digit number that is between the area code and your 4-digit line number.
Q9: How does the overlay of a new area code affect other services?
A: You will still dial three digits to reach 911. If 211, 311, 411, 511, 611, 711 and 811 are currently available in your community or from your provider, you will still dial them with just three digits.
Q10: Who decides when the supply of numbers will exhaust? Who chooses the numbers for the new area code?
A: All area codes in the U.S. are chosen by the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA), which also forecasts when the supply of numbers will exhaust.
Q11: Why not simply assign a new area code to faxes and/or wireless services as a way to provide more numbers?
A: Simply put, because the federal government won’t allow it. The FCC has banned such a use of area codes (Declaratory Ruling and Order, FCC Docket 95-19, IAD File No. 94-102, adopted January 12, 1995). This Order specifically precludes area code
plans that exclude a particular kind of telecommunications service from an area code or that segregate services and technologies into different area codes. The reasoning is that this prohibition is needed to protect new telecommunications services from
discrimination or disadvantage. If a new area code was assigned to cellular services, for example, all calls between a cellular customer and a wire line customer would require 10 digits while a wire line-to-wire line call could be made with seven digits. Some would argue that this would favor wire line customers at the expense of cellular customers.
Currently, with local number portability, wireline numbers are now being ported to wireless service providers and vice-versa. Therefore, there is a co-mingling between the technologies of numbers within the assigned blocks and codes of numbers that prevents them from being separated by area codes. Area code relief is done at the full prefix level and involves all numbers associated with each prefix.
Q12: When are the 405 and 580 area codes forecast to run out of numbers?
.
A: 405 area code: 4th quarter of 2017. 580 area code: 2nd quarter of 2017.
o Note: These are forecasts only, and subject to change.
Q13: How can I get more information on the background of this matter and the
Commissioners’ decision?
A: The Commission’s Final Order contains all case details and history. It can be
accessed at:
https://imaging.occeweb.com/AP/Orders/OCC4206536.PDF
More questions? Here is a list of contacts:
Oklahoma Corporation Commission
Main number: 405-521-2211
Matt Skinner, Public Information: 405-521-4180
Bennett Abbott, Senior Attorney-Telecommunications: 405-521-3570
Consumer Services Division: 405-521-2331 (OKC area), 918-581-2869 (Tulsa area), or 1-800-522-8154 (statewide).
Email questions to: [email protected] or [email protected]
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