No Shortage of Numbers in 323, 562 Area Codes

Efforts to conserve phone numbers have erased the need for new area codes in Los Angeles and Orange county communities now served by the 323 and 562 codes, according to new reports released by state regulators Thursday.

Both regions had been slated to get new area codes in the coming year, but the plans were never finalized pending the outcome of detailed phone number usage studies conducted by the state Public Utilities Commission.

The reports covering the 323 and 562 area codes are the latest in a string of audits statewide that have uncovered millions of unused phone numbers that can be offered to phone companies.

In the 562 region, which covers parts of northern Orange County as well as Long Beach and surrounding communities, regulators found that 5.6 million phone numbers--or about two-thirds of the total pool of usable numbers--are not in use by the phone companies that hold them.

The PUC believes about 3.6 million of those can be reclaimed and reassigned to other phone companies, thus eliminating the need for a new area code in 562 for several years.

In the 323 region, which covers the area that surrounds the tiny 213 code in downtown Los Angeles, auditors found 5.15 million unused phone numbers, including 3.4 million numbers that can be recaptured for reassignment.

Two other reports released Thursday found millions of phone numbers available in Sacramento’s 916 area code and Northern California’s 925 area code, covering part of Contra Costa County. PUC officials now believe no new codes are needed in those regions.

State regulators started the audits in response to rising public frustration over the rapid proliferation of new area codes. At the end of 1999, the state had 25 area codes, but 22 more were planned by the end of 2003.

PUC officials enacted a series of new rules on number usage to prevent phone companies from stockpiling phone numbers. In December 1999, state regulators halted plans for all new area codes pending the number usage audits.