State Revises O.C. Area Code Plan

Northern Orange County will get a second area code by the middle of next year under a stepped-up plan approved Thursday by state regulators.

The Public Utilities Commission ruling moves up the new code’s introduction by several months. In the original proposal, the date was October 2000, with numbers using the new code to be issued after February 2001. Regulators opted for the quicker schedule to bring relief for the region’s number crunch.

The plan calls for adding a new area code within the same geographic boundaries as the existing 714 code. That method, known as an “overlay,” requires callers in the region to dial the full number--including 1 and the area code--on all calls.

To get used to the extra dialing, residents and businesses in 714 may begin using 11-digit dialing on Oct. 7. Beginning July 7, 2000, all calls in the 714 area must be dialed using the full number.

State regulators on Thursday also approved a two-step area code plan for the region covered by 909, which serves the fast-growing Inland Empire.

Bowing to objections by the city of Moreno Valley, state public utilities commissioners approved a new plan that would keep Moreno Valley in the same area code as nearby Riverside. An earlier proposal would have split the two cities and put Moreno Valley in with San Bernardino.

Officials will select the new numbers for the 714 and 909 areas by June.

At the PUC’s meeting Thursday, Commissioner Henry Duque sought to assure Californians that the state is trying to find ways to slow the pace of area code changes.

California now has 24 area codes, the most of any state.