Western Washington residents will avoid having to punch in three extra digits each time they make a local phone call for at least another four years.
The telecommunications industry once estimated the region would need to add a fourth area code by next year, but the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission said Wednesday that won’t be the case after all.
It turns out that there could be enough unused phone numbers in the 360 area code to last until 2010.
“Every time a new area code is added, there are disruptions and potential costs to businesses and citizens, so we want to push that date out as far as possible,” the utilities commission chairman Mark Sidran said in a written statement.
Part of the reason is the commission’s efforts with the telephone industry to more precisely identify unused lines and set them aside for future use. State regulators gave special credit to the North American Numbering Plan Administration, a private body that’s working on area code planning.
But the 1990s explosion of dial-up Internet connections, fax machines and cell phone use also has calmed.
“It’s slowed down remarkably,” said Marilyn Meehan, spokeswoman for the utilities commission, who said the state’s been able to delay the introduction of a new area code four times now.
In some measure, that’s due to the increased use of broadband Internet connections, which don’t use up phone numbers. Verizon Communications, which serves Snohomish and parts of King county, says that between that trend and the switchover to wireless phones, it loses thousands of landline customers a year.
Another key reason: Phone companies are no longer reserving unused phone numbers in 10,000-number blocks as they used to, Meehan added.
“That’s a major thing. When little telecom companies came in to serve an area, they might only have a couple thousand customers, but they’d reserve many more numbers than that,” she explained.
Until 1995, all of Western Washington was united by the 206 area code. Then, the 360 area code was introduced for the area outside greater Seattle. In 1997, the 206 area was divided to add the 425 and 253 area codes.
Because the area codes were assigned to specific geographic regions, local calls within the same area codes have been possible with just dialing the seven-digit number. The next area code switch, however, is not likely to be that easy.
The utilities commission has said the next one likely will be “overlaid,” meaning all new numbers in Western Washington will be within the new area code. Once that happens, residents here will then be required to dial 10 digits for all calls, including local ones.
It undoubtedly will cause grumbling among callers, but it will cause headaches for the phone companies as well, said Kevin Laverty, spokesman at Verizon’s regional headquarters in Everett.
“It will be quite a bit of work to get the details of an area code overlay worked out,” he said. “We know we have to address it down the road, but the fact we don’t have to address it now is good news.”
The utilities commission said it has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to require a statewide pooling of unused phone numbers as a way to further extend the life of the existing area codes here. That petition hasn’t been acted upon yet.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
By the numbers
The 360 area code is now projected to have enough available phone numbers until at least 2010. The state’s other area codes are in even better shape, according to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission:
* The 425 area code is estimated to have enough numbers until 2025.
* The 206 area code is expected to have enough numbers until 2024.
* The 253 area code could last until 2022.
* The 509 area code is now expected to last until 2011.
By the numbers
The 360 area code is now projected to have enough available phone numbers until at least 2010. The state’s other area codes are in even better shape, according to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission:
* The 425 area code is estimated to have enough numbers until 2025.
* The 206 area code is expected to have enough numbers until 2024.
* The 253 area code could last until 2022.
* The 509 area code is now expected to last until 2011.
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