Knox Asks PUC to Hang Up on Area Code Split

Assemblyman Wally Knox D-Los Angeles) on Tuesday urged the Public Utilities Commission to scrap a “backup plan” for splitting the San Fernando Valley’s 818 area code, saying the move was undermining reform efforts by state lawmakers.

Last week, a contractor hired by the Federal Communications Commission announced that the southwest Valley would get a new 747 code if and when numbers in the 818 code were exhausted.

But in a letter to PUC commissioners, Knox advocated halting those plans, saying public furor over the move was threatening efforts to change the system that creates area codes and distributes phone numbers.

“The activity surrounding the backup plan has divided public opinion in the San Fernando Valley,” Knox said in a letter Tuesday. “The message that should be communicated at this critical juncture is that systematic reforms are in place that may well alleviate the need for any further area-code chaos.”

Knox said in an interview that the state’s area-code reform program, signed into law two months ago by Gov. Gray Davis, would require phone companies to reveal the numbers they are using or holding in reserve in any given area code, limit new numbers handed out to businesses and prevent hoarding of unused numbers.

Last month, the state Public Utilities Commission adopted a number-conservation program intended to keep the 818 area code intact for as long as possible. But the agency also decided that should available numbers be exhausted, the Valley’s 818 area code would be split.

The agency rejected a so-called overlay, in which all new phones in the 818 area would get a new area code and existing phones would keep the 818 code.

Instead, the PUC announced a backup plan designating the 747 area code for the West Valley if and when the Valley runs out of 818 numbers.

Under the proposal, Van Nuys, Reseda, Canoga Park, West Hills, Agoura, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills and Westlake Village would be assigned the 747 area code. The northeast Valley, including Burbank, Glendale and San Fernando as well as La Canada Flintridge would retain the 818 area code.

Knox said the agency jumped the gun, pointing to preliminary figures from the 310 area code that indicated at least 940,000 unused telephone numbers. Before the law was passed, the PUC was informed by the phone companies only about what prefixes were being used.

“How could they possibly make a valid decision about a new area code, having no idea what the future telephone usage is really going to be?” Knox asked. “Implement the reforms, then make your decisions.”