L.A. County May Get 2 More Area Codes : Telecommunications: The Valley is due to get one of the new numbers by March, 1997. ‘Cellular phones and pagers are just booming,’ a phone company official says.

The proliferation of cellular phones, pagers and other telecommunications devices is gobbling up available phone numbers at such a rapid pace that Los Angeles County may need as many as three new area codes over the next several years, representatives of GTE Corp. and Pacific Bell said Monday.

Officials at GTE and Pacific Bell said the companies are planning to introduce at least two new area codes by the spring of 1997, one apiece for the increasingly crowded 310 and 818 area codes. Another new code for the 213 area is also being considered, officials said.

“Cellular phones and pagers are just booming,” said Paula Olivares, who is coordinating the expansion plans at Pacific Bell. “People just want to be reachable everywhere at all times.”

The new plan is a dramatic change from just a year ago, when the two phone companies announced plans to add only one area code that would be scattered among all customers in L.A. County. Exactly how the new area codes will be implemented remains uncertain.

Traditionally, new area codes have been added by splitting existing codes along geographic boundaries, just as the 213 code spawned the 818 and 310 codes during the past 11 years.

The new codes, however, are meant to share geographic areas with the old ones. If the California Public Utilities Commission approves, the codes will be issued to new customers as they sign up, regardless of where they are located within the old area code.

Pacific Bell and GTE, which route most local calls, say this “overlay” method is less disruptive because it allows existing customers to keep their present phone numbers. This is especially important to business customers concerned about confusing their clients, Olivares said.

Critics, however, say the overlay plan would create a different kind of confusion. Households and businesses with more than one phone line, for example, could end up with more than one area code.

MCI, Sprint and other telecommunications companies oppose the overlay method for another reason. Starting in 1997, these long-distance carriers will for the first time be permitted to compete with Pacific Bell and GTE to route local calls. MCI and Sprint say an overlay plan would put them at a competitive disadvantage because customers are less likely to switch carriers if they have to change area codes to do so.

The first of the changes is set to take place this September, when a 562 area code will be added to the regions south and west of Los Angeles that are presently served by the 310 area code. The San Fernando Valley area, which is currently served by the 818 area code, is expected to get a new code by March, 1997, Olivares said.

Whether these new codes will be added by overlay or by splitting existing regions is up to the Public Utilities Commission. The agency is expected to rule on the matter within two months.