Eastern Oregon will get a second area code – 458 – starting in 2010, but the biggest change might be 10-digit dialing

Baker County residents and other Oregonians

who have the 541 telephone area code will have to get used to a second

code – 458 – and get ready to dial 10 digits rather than seven, even

for local calls.

The Oregon Public Utility Commission has decided to add the 458 area code, for new phone numbers, starting as early as 2010.

If your number has the 541 code now, it won’t change.

What will change, though, starting about the middle of 2010, is that

for all calls, including local ones, you’ll need to dial the area code

(either 541 or the new 458) as well as the phone number – 10 digits

instead of seven.

Dave Sloan, senior technical analyst at the PUC, said rate centers for

communities across Oregon each have an allotment of 541 numbers

assigned, and as those numbers run out for a given community, new

accounts will have the 458 area code.

Some communities may run out of 541 numbers early in 2010 when the new

prefix becomes available, but other communities may have enough 541

numbers available to last for decades, Sloan said.

“A town of 250 customers may not run out of 541 numbers for 30 or 40

years. Others, mostly the larger towns, might run out of 541 numbers

and start using the new area code by 2010,” Sloan said.

The addition of the new area code will not change local and long distance issues – calls that are local now will remain local, and the same with long distance.

PUC added the 458 area code because the 541 code – which covers Eastern and Southern Oregon – is running short on available phone numbers.

The new 458 area code should alleviate that problem for at least 24 years, according to PUC.

Prior to adopting the change Tuesday, the commission conducted a thorough investigation to gauge public support for several alternatives for dialing changes possible for addressing a number shortage that was looming prior to Tuesday’ action, Bob Valdez, PUC information specialist, said in a press statement.

He said the Commission has committed to work with industry representatives in producing media releases, customer education materials such as bill inserts, and public forums to inform the public before the new 458 area code becomes available in 2010.

As for the new 10-digit dialing system, customers will be able to call from within the 541 area with either 10 digits or just the seven-digit telephone numbers for a six-month grace period before 10-digit dialing becomes mandatory. This will give customers a chance to get used to the change. After 10-digit dialing becomes mandatory, callers who dial seven digits will receive a recorded message instructing them to dial 10 digits.

Bob Gravely, a representative with Qwest telecommunication company, which provides phone service in Baker City, said Qwest and other area telephone companies preferred this option of adding a new area code, partly because that leaves all of the existing numbers the same, minimizing the changeover burden, especially on business customers.

“After weighing the options, we believe this solution is the least disruptive option and will meet the demand for new telephone numbers more than 20 years into the future,” PUC Chairman Lee Beyer said in a press release. “I’m confident customers will have enough time to make any programming changes before the new area code takes effect.”

All existing numbers will retain the 541 area code, but new telephone customers for local phone service, cellular, paging services and alarms might receive the new 458 area code as early as 2010, or a later date when their community rate center runs out of 541 numbers, Sloan said.

Things to remember: Customers will not have to change their telephone numbers; local calls in the 541 area code will require dialing 10 digits; if a call is currently local it will remain local and if it is long distance it will still be long distance; there is no additional cost; and dialing for 911 emergency calls will not change.

“There are a number of factors driving the demand for phone numbers such as businesses expanding to the continued popularity of cell phones,” Beyer said.

Valdez said the commission selected the overlay solution instead of a geographic split to address the number shortage. Although the geographic split would have kept seven-digit-dialing for local calls within the same area code, it would have required approximately half of the current customers to change their telephone numbers.

The commission acted based on a projection that Oregon will run out of telephone numbers in the 541 area code by 2011, Valdez said.

He said the commission approved an “All Services Overlay” after broad public input, which included 18 open house events earlier this year, an interactive link on the PUC Web site and comments from the industry.

The PUC approved Oregon’s second area code in 1995, when it created the 541 area code for Southern and Eastern Oregon, and retained the 503 area code for the northwest part of the state. In 2000 the commission added a 971 concentrated overlay to the 503 region and the northwest coast became part of the overlay in early 2008