New Area Code Assignments

[Neal McLain]

A recent issue of TELECOM Digest raised a question about how "new" (since
1/1/95) area codes are assigned.

A partial answer certainly has to be this: an area code and a central
office code can't be the same. And, if at all possible, an area code
shouldn't be the same as any nearby central office code in any adjacent
area code.

Consider how these requirements affect the selection of the new area
code when an existing area code is split:

- Avoiding a conflict with any existing central office code means that the
new area code must be selected from the list of presently-unused central
office codes. That list is likely to be fairly short: if an area code
needs to be split, it's already running out of central office codes.

- Avoiding a conflict with any existing central office code in any nearby
community in adjacent area codes makes that short list even shorter.

A case in point: the 205/334 split in Alabama:

- 334 is not used as a central office code anywhere in Alabama. Thus,
there will be no 205-334 or 334-334.

- With one exception, 334 is not used as a central office code in any
nearby city in any adjacent area code: 404-334 doesn't exist;
601-334 is in Greenville; 615-334 is in Decatur; 706-334 is in
Ranger; and 904-334 is in Tallahassee.

- The one exception which proves the rule: 912-334 is in Georgetown,
Georgia, right across the Chattahoochee River from Eufaula,
Alabama. This will no doubt cause some confusion for the 900 or
so residents of Georgetown.

That confusion notwithstanding, it seems obvious that Bellcore and the
local telephone companies went to considerable effort to select the
code which would cause the least amount of confusion.

Neal McLain nmc...@macc.wisc.edu

[Carl Moore]

OK, so you list 912-334 in Georgetown, GA, next door to area 334 in
Alabama. Do you know if any points in the Georgetown calling area
have local service to Alabama, and if so, how are such local calls
dialed? Georgia points in the Georgetown calling area would have:
334-xxxx for local calls to Georgetown 1-334-xxx-xxxx for long
distance to area code 334.

I do have 1 + NPA + 7D method listed for long distance within a Georgia
area code, so local calls to Alabama could very well have stayed at
7D.

[Jeffrey William McKeough]

Speaking of new area codes, I had said that Connecticut's would be
890. However, according to two Connecticut television stations, it
will be 860.

Jeffrey McKeough ma...@oitunix.oit.umass.edu

[Neal McLain]