Telephone customers in the 513 area code in Southwest Ohio will have a little longer to get used to 10-digit dialing.

        The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio said Thursday that, based on new projections from the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, it doesn't expect the supply of numbers in the 513 area code to run out until mid-2003. The previous projection was that the numbers would be used up by this fall because of the proliferation of fax machines, cell phones and other telecommunications devices.

        Even so, the PUCO ordered mandatory 10-digit dialing in the 513 area starting June 29, 2002. After that date, customers in Southwest Ohio will have to use the 513 area code to complete local calls.

        The commission and Cincinnati Bell have been encouraging customers to use 10 digits for local calls for some time to get used to the new system. When the supply of 513 area code numbers runs out, new customers will be issued numbers with a new 283 area code. Just when that will begin remains unclear.

        A commission spokeswoman said the agency thought it was better to set a mandatory date for 10-digit dialing because “they didn't want the permissive period to run too long.”

        The reason for the delay was the release last fall of 120 telephone prefixes that weren't required when Northern Kentucky went to the 859 area code, said Scott Ringo, Cincinnati Bell's director of regulatory affairs. Each telephone prefix contains 10,000 numbers.

        Despite the delay, PUCO Chairman Alan Schriber, a Wyoming resident, felt compelled to issue an apology to local alarm companies, which had scrambled in the past six months to meet the earlier date.

        The companies have been updating and, in some cases, installing new equipment in customers' homes to meet what they thought would be a June deadline.

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