Nation IN BRIEF : ILLINOIS : Chicago Suburbs Get New Area Code

Chicago’s suburbs began converting to a new telephone area code in a transition described as generally smooth despite an increase in callers seeking dialing instructions. Illinois Bell said the change from the 312 code to a new one, 708, is necessary because the utility is running out of phone numbers in the huge metropolitan area. The conversion will affect 1.7 million customers and was expected to be completed by the end of the weekend. The new area code will cover all of Du Page and Lake counties, virtually all of Kane and portions of Cook, McHenry, Will and Kendall counties.