Friday, June 04, 1999
New area code may be necessary
513 will be used up by 2002
BY DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) will decide next week whether to look into splitting the 513 area code and assigning a new number to one of the halves.
The move may be necessary because the North American Numbering Council is estimating that the 513 area code will run out of seven-digit numbers in the first quarter of 2002.
The PUCO will discuss the issue at its meeting Monday, with a vote on whether to proceed coming Wednesday.
A majority “yes” vote would set off a series of events:
• Within two weeks, a planning team would be formed to come up with ideas about the best way to proceed with a new area code.
• Within six months, a presentation of those ideas would be made to the PUCO.
• Shortly after that presentation, the PUCO would hold a series of local public hearings to outline the ideas and to take public input.
Dick Kimmins, a PUCO spokesman, said a vote could come within 15 months of a planning team being formed.
“There are only so many numbers available for any area code,” Mr. Kimmins said. “Once, they're gone, they're gone.”
Libby Korosec, a spokes woman for Cincinnati Bell, said her company has not taken a position on the new area code possibility.
“We'll wait and see what the PUCO comes up with, then take a position on one of their plans,” Ms. Korosecsaid. “We'll advocate the one that has the least impact on our customers.”
Telephone numbers in area codes all over the country are in short supply because of the proliferation of fax machines, ATM machines, cellular phones and other electronic devices — such as scanning machines in grocery stores — which require a phone line and number to operate.
If PUCO decides to split the area code, the new area code number would be assigned by the North American Numbering Council of Washington, D.C.
The PUCO also will discuss on Monday splitting three other area codes in Ohio — 330 (Akron, Youngstown), 440 (Ashtabula, Cleveland suburbs) and 419 (northwest Ohio).
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