Lawmakers Push Fight Against Phone Overlay

In an effort to further delay the need for a new area code in the 310 region, state Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) on Friday urged phone companies to voluntarily return unused phone numbers for redistribution to carriers in need of numbers.

The lawmakers’ latest request was made in formal comments filed with the California Public Utilities Commission, which is set to review the 310 area code issue at its Sept. 2 meeting.

A draft PUC decision concludes it is too late to save the 310 region--which covers West Los Angeles and the South Bay--from a new area code. Under the proposed decision, an overlay area code--424--would be added Oct. 16 to cover the communities now served by 310.

Knox and Villaraigosa urged the PUC to reject the proposed decision and any other new area code plan for 310 until regulators have exhausted all number-conservation options.

Barring that, the lawmakers asked the PUC to delay the Oct. 16 introduction of the 424 code to allow time for further appeals. PUC Commissioner Joel Hyatt has said he plans to offer for commission review on Sept. 2 an alternative plan that would steer clear of adding a new code in 310.

At the Sept. 2 meeting, the PUC is scheduled to consider imposing an overlay in the 818 area code for the San Fernando Valley. No number has yet been proposed for a Valley overlay.