10-Digit Dialing Plan Is Opposed by Staff at FCC

The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that its staff has recommended that commissioners not force telephone users to dial 10 digits for all phone calls.

The FCC statement came after the Los Angeles Times reported in its Wednesday editions that the FCC would consider 10-digit dialing and other reforms aimed at slowing demand for new telephone numbers and the need for new area codes. The Times story failed to report that the staff opposed the proposal. Thus, the story gave the impression that the commission was likely to approve it. From interviews Wednesday, that appears unlikely. The unusual public statement is a departure from the FCC’s so-called sunshine rules that bar staffers and agency officials from publicly discussing details of matters that are to be taken up by the five-member commission at its public meeting.

“The chairman intends to accept the staff recommendation not to adopt nationwide mandatory 10-digit dialing,” said Linda Paris, a spokeswoman for FCC Chairman William E. Kennard.

Spokesmen for two of the five FCC commissioners contacted Wednesday by The Times declined to comment on whether they would accept or reject 10-digit dialing.

The agency is scheduled to vote today at a public meeting on whether to make reforms.

The FCC had been studying whether to require telephone users in the United States to dial the three-digit area code plus a seven-digit number for both long-distance and local calls. Some regions--including Maryland and Virginia--have implemented 10-digit dialing for local calls.

However, such a requirement remains highly unpopular in many states, including California, where just a few months of 10-digit dialing in West Los Angeles last year triggered such a public backlash that the requirement was suspended.

FCC officials told reporters at a briefing earlier this week that the agency was studying 10-digit dialing. The agency subsequently indicated it was examining measures to prevent phone companies from hoarding numbers and was looking at whether to set aside numbers exclusively for wireless phone users that are not tied to a specific geographic area.

Before public FCC meetings, the agency staff often researches issues and develops options for commissioners to vote on. During the week before meetings, staffers and officials are barred by FCC rules from discussing details of matters coming up for consideration.