Some Customers in 310 Area Code to Switch to 562

Prompted by the surging demand for new phone numbers, Orange County cities bordering Los Angeles County will get a new area code on Saturday.

The change will affect telephone customers from Seal Beach to La Habra currently listed under the 310 code. Beginning Saturday, the new code for those customers will be 562. It will mark the second code change in six years for the area, and telephone industry officials predicted another change will become necessary in 2007.

“We had to do this a number of years ago when we changed from 213 to 310,” said Donna Myers, of the La Habra Chamber of Commerce. “Merchants will again have to go through the expense of changing letterheads and business cards. Some of us will have to go into the computer and change customers’ phone numbers individually. It’ll require a considerable amount of time and work.”

Pacific Bell spokesman Gary Sanderson said the change was necessitated by the explosion in the number of pagers, fax machines, home computers and ATMs, which require phone numbers to operate.

“We are simply running out of seven-digit numbers,” Sanderson said. “We have been issuing six new prefixes a month in the 310 area since the beginning of the year. That represents 10,000 phones per prefix each month.”

Those dialing into the 562 area will have a six-month grace period in which they will still be connected if they dial 310. The next three months, they will hear a recording giving them the new area code.

South County also is scheduled to be separated from the 714 area code into a new 949 code, perhaps as early as Oct. 18, six months ahead of the planned April 18, 1998, split. Officials said the new 949 area code probably will have to be split again in 18 to 22 years, while the reconfigured 714 code probably will have to be divided into a new area code again in five years or earlier.

The exact boundary of the 714 split is not available yet, but Sanderson said it probably will be near the county’s geographical center, with the 949 code serving customers south to the San Diego County border. Pacific Bell officials said several communities along the planned 714/949 split will be served by both codes.

Pacific Bell officials proposed “overlaying” the new area codes to make the changes less confusing, but that plan was rejected by the Public Utilities Commission. Overlaying would allow existing customers, such as those in the 310 area code, to keep the area code and number they now have. The new area code would be given only to people requesting new numbers.

California currently has 13 area codes, more than any other state. That number is expected to double by 2001.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Affected Prefixes

If your current area code is 310 and your telephone prefix is one of the following, you will be changing to a new 562 area code on Saturday:

200 prefixes: 210, 218, 220, 227, 256, 259, 272

300 prefixes: 308, 321, 356

400 prefixes: 401, 402, 403, 404, 406, 407, 408, 409, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, 439, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 467, 468, 469, 483, 490, 491, 492, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499

500 prefixes: 506, 520, 529, 531, 555, 561, 570, 590, 591, 592, 593, 594, 595, 596, 597, 598, 599

600 prefixes: 601, 602, 611, 621, 622, 623, 624, 626, 627, 628, 630, 633, 634, 651, 653, 654, 663, 678, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, 696, 697, 698, 699

700 prefixes: 709, 744, 776, 790, 795, 797, 799

800 prefixes: 801, 802, 803, 804, 806, 807, 809, 811, 853, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865, 866, 867, 868, 869, 877

900 prefixes: 901, 902, 903, 904, 905, 906, 907, 908, 911, 916, 920, 921, 922, 923, 924, 925, 926, 927, 928, 929, 930, 933, 936, 938, 940, 941, 942, 943, 944, 945, 946, 947, 948, 949, 950, 951, 958, 959, 961, 976, 980, 981, 982, 983, 984, 985, 986, 987, 988, 989, 997

Source: Pacific Bell