Governor, FCC Join Area Code Overlay Battle

Gov. Gray Davis on Wednesday urged the state Public Utilities Commission to rescind 11-digit dialing and halt the 424/310 area overlay, calling the area code change premature at best and possibly unnecessary.

The governor’s request came as the Federal Communications Commission granted state utilities regulators permission to implement number-conservation measures that backers say will greatly diminish the need for area code splits and overlays, including one proposed for the 818 area code in the San Fernando Valley.

Both developments came on the eve of today’s meeting of the PUC in San Francisco, where commissioners are scheduled to vote on implementing the overlay in West Los Angeles and the South Bay.

Davis made his request in a letter to Public Utilities Commissioner Joel Hyatt, who released a draft decision earlier this month calling for a rollback of the 310 overlay. Davis appointed Hyatt to the five-member commission this year.

“In Los Angeles, residences and businesses have been subjected to a complicated and costly 11-digit dialing scheme,” Davis wrote, “and face the prospect of more confusion as additional area code splits and overlays are imposed.”

Davis scolded the PUC for its decision to create an overlay without first determining how many unused numbers exist within the 310 area code.

“This has left L.A. running short of available numbers while we lack the basic facts about how many unused numbers exist,” Davis wrote. “All unused 310 numbers should be used first before deciding to create complicated and costly new area code splits.”

Davis said he supports the number-conservation measures approved by the FCC and that they should be acted upon immediately.

In Wednesday’s action, the FCC gave the state commission authority to reduce the amount of numbers allotted to telephone companies at one time from 10,000 to 1,000. Critics contend that the number shortage claimed by phone companies is partly due to companies hoarding numbers to maintain a competitive edge.

The FCC also granted the PUC authority to conduct number utilization studies when splits or overlays are proposed.

Additionally, state regulators now have the power to reclaim unused prefixes and portions of those prefixes for placement in a single pool for distribution and to require phone companies to give out numbers in sequential order.

“We are very pleased that the Federal Communications Commission has acted on our petition granting the authority,” said Helen Mickiewicz, an attorney for the PUC. “We hope to be using this authority soon to slow down the rate at which the industry is requesting phone numbers in California, because repeated area code relief has taken a toll on the public, and we would like to slow it down.”

Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles), who shepherded a bill through the Legislature to put tighter controls on area code changes, was cautiously optimistic late Wednesday as he assessed the federal regulators’ decision.

“We are dealing with late information coming in from the East Coast . . . but we would have to surmise that the timing of the decision was intended to assist the California Public Utilities Commission as it deals with the 310 issue,” Knox said.

Knox said the FCC’s ruling addresses the same issues raised in his bill that sets additional hurdles in place before area code splits and overlays can be imposed.

“This decision perfectly dovetails with Assembly Bill 406,” he said. “We have a one-two punch with the FCC clarifying the authority of the state of California.”

State Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) called the decision a victory for California consumers, particularly those living in the San Fernando Valley who could face an area code split or overlay.

“This determination will improve the flexibility of the PUC to make decisions that are friendlier to our needs,” Alarcon said. “There is no longer a need to rush into a split or overlay in the 818 area code. We will have greater assurance that numbers will be properly utilized that will delay a split or overlay. This is very good news.”

As a member of the state Senate’s Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee, Alarcon traveled to Washington to meet with federal regulators to discuss the proliferation of area code overlays statewide.

Telephone companies including Pacific Bell have been pushing for overlays, saying the proliferation of fax machines, pagers, computer modems and cellular phones has created a number shortage and that overlays are less disruptive than splitting off a new area code.

In an overlay, all new phones in an area get a new area code. In addition, under FCC rules all phone users in an overlay area must dial the area code--even for local calls.

Pacific Bell spokesman Steve Getzug said he could not immediately comment on either the FCC action or Davis’ recommendation, but said Pac Bell officials “have said many times that we support conserving telephone numbers.”