Area Code Bill Would Force Split, Official Says
A public utilities commissioner warned Friday that legislation proposed by Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) to scrap 11-digit dialing could leave consumers with only one option when their area codes get crowded--to split.
“The FCC says if you are going to have an overlay you must have 10-digit dialing,” said Public Utilities Commissioner Joseph Neeper, who did not include the 1 required to begin such calls.
“The Knox bill asks for seven digits rather than 10. If that passes, federal and state law will be at loggerheads,” he said Friday at a meeting to discuss the proposed 818 area code overlay. “From my perspective, then we can only split, we can’t overlay.”
Neeper and Knox participated in the panel discussion sponsored by the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. John Banuelos, a spokesman for Pacific Bell, also served as a panelist.
The powerful association, which represents hundred San Fernando Valley businesses, prefers an area code overlay over a split because companies would rather keep their existing phone numbers.
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed a motion Friday opposing the overlay proposal until larger issues of telephone number availability are resolved.
A state administrative law judge for the PUC recommended the 818 area code overlay last week, rejecting an alternative plan to divide the area code geographically.
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