A Recall Effort Is Underway for 310 Area Code Overlay

Take heart, callers in the 310 area code, Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) may yet win back seven-digit dialing.

Knox, who has spearheaded efforts to slow the pace of new area codes in California, plans to submit a petition asking the state Public Utilities Commission to rescind its overlay decision for 310.

Under the 310 overlay plan, the state’s first, a new area code (424) was assigned to serve the same geographic region as 310--that is, the Westside and South Bay areas of Los Angeles County and a small portion of Ventura County.

Since April 17, all calls in that region require dialing 1 plus the area code and phone number--a move meant to prepare callers for the coexistence of 310 and 424.

The switch to 11-digit dialing triggered confusion and technical glitches with certain equipment, among them dial-up apartment entry systems not set up to handle more than seven digits. But it also set off a phone fury that ultimately was heard across the country at the Federal Communications Commission.

On July 17, phone companies will begin issuing numbers using the 424 area code. As Knox sees it, until those numbers are issued, there is still a chance to turn back the overlay.

“It’s pretty unprecedented to try to rescind something like this, but everything that’s happened so far has been unprecedented,” Knox said. “And they are really feeling the heat at the PUC.”

Regulators and phone companies acknowledge that the biggest culprit in the state’s number crunch is the current system used to issue numbers to phone companies.

Under those rules, phone numbers can be issued to carriers only in blocks of 10,000--an entire prefix’s worth. That approach was established decades before new companies were allowed to enter the local phone market. Because some companies need fewer than the 10,000 they are assigned, millions of phone numbers are left unused.

In addition, there is little or no enforcement of measures designed to force companies to return unused blocks of numbers and to prevent companies from stockpiling them.

Correcting those and other administrative flaws could substantially slow or eliminate the need for new area codes.

Knox’s bill (AB 818)--which passed with 80% of Assembly members voting in favor of it--calls for the PUC to take steps to address the issue and to seek authority for other conservation actions from the FCC. The bill, which is under review in a state Senate committee, would take effect Jan. 1, 2000. “That is a hot bill,” Knox said, “and I think it will do very well in the Senate.”

The FCC last month proposed a series of changes that would help conserve phone numbers. But any change would probably take months, if not longer, to be felt in California.

“The FCC has now stepped up to the plate,” Knox said. “The problem I have is that there’s no timeline, so they could ‘expeditiously’ act over the next five years, and that’s just not going to cut it.”

In the meantime, Knox hopes the state will take steps to save numbers in 310 and other regions, such as 818, with impending area code changes. It’s unclear, however, if the overlay can be reversed without causing havoc among phone companies--and customers needing new lines.

“It would all depend on how quickly the [conservation] measures are implemented,” said Rebecca Barnhart, spokeswoman for the North American Numbering Plan, the group that handles numbering matters. “And until changes are made, we have to continue the area code planning process.”

In his petition, Knox will highlight the overlay’s cost to consumers and businesses, and press the PUC and the phone companies to prove that the 424 code is really needed.

“I can’t promise anyone anything, but I really think there is a real prospect of turning this around,” Knox said. “But if they have data that show that without the new area code, West Los Angeles will crumble, then, of course, we’ll have to bite the bullet.”

Knox can be reached at wally.knox@assembly.ca.gov or (323) 932-1201.

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The state Public Utilities Commission is holding a series of public hearings this month and next to discuss ways to slow the introduction of new area codes.

The first meetings will be held June 16-17 in San Diego. On June 17, from 7 to 10 p.m., the PUC will discuss the issue at Glendale Civic Auditorium, 1401 N. Verdugo Road.

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Times staff writer Elizabeth Douglass can be reached at elizabeth.douglass@latimes.com.