New Area Code for Inland Empire Likely Will Be 909 : Telephone: GTE and Pacific Bell favor splitting off the region and leaving Orange County with the 714 designation.

For millions of residents and businesses in the Inland Empire and the eastern tip of Los Angeles County, 1993 is likely to bring a new number to memorize: 909.

That is the new area code proposed--and favored--Tuesday by officials at GTE California and Pacific Bell in a plan to answer a shrinking supply of seven-digit numbers in the booming 714 region.

Under a first-time review process mandated by a new state law, the phone companies will hold public hearings on three proposals Nov. 26-30 in Ontario, Brea, Riverside, San Bernardino, Irvine and Hemet.

The proposals include leaving 714 intact in Orange County and turning the rest of the existing area code into 909; retaining 714 in northern Orange County and designating the southern part of the county and the Inland Empire as 909; or mixing new 909 numbers with the existing 714s throughout the entire region.

Under the last scenario, new telephone lines in the existing 714 area would be given 909 area codes, meaning that neighbors could have different area codes and would have to use 10-digit numbers to dial each other.

The plan that received the strongest backing of the phone companies Tuesday would essentially break down the area codes by county lines: Orange County, with the exception of three northwest cities now in 213, would keep its 714 designation, while virtually all the rest of the present 714 area--from Diamond Bar and several other eastern Los Angeles County cities through western Riverside and San Bernardino counties--would switch to the 909 code as of January, 1993.

“This is the plan that will cause the least disruption for the public,” asserted Reed Royalty, area vice president for Pacific Bell. While expecting resistance to the changes from some quarters, he said: “We think we’re easing the public into this as gently as we possibly can.”

Unlike problems that arose in creating the new 310 area code--which goes into effect in 1992 in a U-shaped area around downtown Los Angeles--and other area code changes, a division by county lines was relatively easy in the 714 area because Orange and Riverside counties are already naturally divided in many areas by unpopulated zones, such as the Cleveland National Forest, officials said.

Royalty said the 714 area code is simply running out of numbers, forcing the creation of the new zone. Fueled by the region’s boom in population and in high-tech items such as cellular phones and telefax machines, customer lines in the 714 area have surged from 2.6 million less than five years ago to 4.7 million today.

Under a second plan put forth by the phone company, northern Orange County would keep the 714 code, while the southern county would join the Inland Empire in adopting the 909 number. The main advantage of this plan, officials say, is that it would more equally divide the area’s 4.7 million lines than would the first plan, thus increasing the life span of the new area code.

A third plan would allow everyone who now has a 714 area code to keep it, while all new users--no matter where they live--would get the 909 number. This would mean that 714 and 909 users, mingled in the Orange County and Inland Empire region, would have to dial 10 numbers to make some local calls.

“Whoa, that one sounds incredibly unwieldy,” said Pat Crockett, president of the South Orange County Chamber of Commerce.

Crockett’s response was typical. Among more than a dozen people sampled informally Tuesday in the 714 area--from secretaries and clerks to city council members and business leaders--the plan to divide the areas by county was the unanimous choice.

Even in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, community leaders said the value of keeping the switch simple outweighs the inconvenience.

“I’m all in favor of breaking it down by county boundaries,” said Bob Kercheval, president of the East Valley Coalition of Chambers of Commerce, which serves San Bernardino and Riverside counties. “It’s somewhat of an inconvenience for us to switch, but as long as we know it’s coming, I don’t think it’s a big deal.

“The plan makes total sense, and I’d like to make the Inland Empire an area code unto itself--there’s a value in that identification,” Kercheval said.