Regulator Sees 818 Split as Last Resort

Presenting a last-resort option, a state utilities commissioner has recommended an 818 area code split in case number-conservation measures fail to keep pace with demand, officials said Friday.

The tentative proposal, issued late Thursday by Public Utilities Commissioner Joel Z. Hyatt, follows the plan by Commissioner Josiah Neeper that seeks an overlay, while going beyond a proposal by Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pulsifer, whose call for a split would require only a state-conducted number-utilization study.

The PUC is scheduled to take up all three draft proposals at its Oct. 7 meeting in Los Angeles.

All three proposals are backup plans--required by the Federal Communications Commission--in case number-conservation measures fail to provide area code relief.

Industry leaders, consumer advocates and state utilities regulators say they are unable to predict how long an area code would remain intact when preservation measures are in place.

Hyatt’s proposal calls for a geographic split as a backup plan only after several area code preservation measures have been attempted. Those measures include reducing the number of phone numbers given out at one time from 10,000 to 1,000, reclaiming unused phone numbers and conducting number-utilization studies.

A split would divide the San Fernando Valley into two area codes, officials said. Four Valley-area exchanges--Agoura, Canoga Park, Reseda and Van Nuys--would get a new area code that has yet to be determined, while the remaining 12 exchanges would retain the 818 area code.

Hyatt recommended a split rather than an overlay, arguing that a new area code would be less disruptive to customers as evidenced by the strong public opposition to 11-digit dialing and a proposed overlay in the 310 region.

The five-member commission voted Sept. 16 to halt a proposed 424 area code overlaying 310 that was scheduled to take effect Oct. 16.

The decision also rolled back an FCC rule requiring 11-digit dialing for local calls--a mandate that triggered a furor among residents and business owners on the Westside and in the South Bay.

Hyatt said the commission is committed to keeping intact 818 and eight other area codes statewide approved for splits or overlays--though not yet implemented--as long as possible through number conservation.

“We now intend to employ number-conservation measures aggressively to the extent of our authority and thereby avoid splits or overlays wherever possible,” Hyatt said.