Saving area codes
CUB plan fights phone industry’s dark predictions
If not for a CUB plan to save Illinois area codes, seven of them could have run out of telephone numbers by now, requiring the creation of new codes and the costly headaches that come with them, a CUB analysis shows.

Area codes 217, 312, 618, 630, 708, 773, and 815 have yet to run out of numbers, even though
 
Doom and Gloom
Seven Illinois area codes that originally were scheduled to run out of phone numbers by now have not, thanks to a number-conservation plan developed by CUB. Below are the “exhaust dates,” by quarter, for each area code in 1999, compared with the new dates in 2004.
Code     1998     2004
217   2Q   2003   4Q   2008
309   1Q   2010   1Q   2011
312   1Q   2002   2Q   2008
618   1Q   2003   1Q   2007
630   3Q   2000   3Q   2005
708   1Q   2001   4Q   2009
773   1Q   2002   1Q   2008
815   2Q   2003   4Q   2005
847/224*   3Q   2000   3Q   2017
*Note: The 224 “overlay” area code—which matches the boundaries of the 847 area code— was created in that region in 2001.

Source: NeoStar Inc.
they originally were slated to do so as early as 2000, according to records from NeuStar Inc., the private firm the federal government hired to administer numbers to phone companies.

The records date back to 1999, the year after CUB proposed a number-conservation plan that the government eventually adopted as a blueprint to save area codes across the country. CUB’s analysis shows that “exhaust dates”—the phone industry’s estimates of when all numbers in an area code will be assigned to phone companies—can be notoriously unreliable.

“Despite foot-dragging by powerful phone companies, this is proof that phone number conservation saves area codes,” said CUB Associate Director Seamus Glynn, the architect of CUB’s plan.

However, the battle continues, as the phone industry says two area codes, 815 and 630, are set to “exhaust” next year.

When the phone industry claims an area code is exhausted of numbers, a new code must be created. However, new area codes are unnecessary, cause dialing confusion, and force businesses to make costly changes to their phone systems and letterhead. Plus, in the case of an “overlay” area code, which matches the boundaries of the old code, consumers in the region are forced by federal mandate to dial 10 or 11 digits for all calls.

CUB developed its plan because it was skeptical of the phone industry’s claim that increased demand for cell phones, pagers, fax machines, and computer modems has caused a number shortage.

Glynn’s research showed that the phone companies were the real problem. They wastefully stockpiled unused numbers because they believed a long-term supply of the old, familiar area code would give them an advantage with customers as the local phone market opened to competition.

CUB’s plan gives phone companies numbers in blocks of 1,000 instead of 10,000. Companies must give out at least 75 percent of their numbers before requesting more, and unused numbers must be returned.

Thanks to lax enforcement of these number conservation rules, the phone industry got a new “overlay” area code—and 11-digit dialing— in the 847 region in 2001. To prevent that from happening again, CUB has pushed for a new state law that would require Illinois regulators to more diligently enforce the rules.

Although the state capital, Springfield, is in the 217 region and has witnessed the success of number conservation, the bill stalled in a Senate committee after passing the House last year.