818 Area Code Split

There are two reasons why the 818 area code is running out of numbers, one legal and one part technical, part economic (“Customers in 818 Area Code Told of Options,” Nov. 5).

The legal reason is that a judge made a decision that you cannot make a separate area code specifically for cell phones and pagers because then people would be dialing 4 extra digits for “local” calls. This needs to be reversed.

On the technical side, telephone numbers are allocated in 10,000-number blocks, which means that every new cell- phone and pager provider gets 10,000 numbers whether they can use them or not. Because of this, tens or maybe even hundreds of thousands of numbers are lying idle, wasted.

My solution to the problem is to first create an overlay area code, then transfer over all the cell-phone, pager, fax machine and modem lines into the new code. This will free up millions of numbers for voice lines and allow expansion of the other services. We also need to find a way of allocating number in smaller blocks.

DANIEL MATONAK, Canoga Park