As the telephone industry underwent lightning change in the past dozen years, what with the rapid advent of mobile phones, the Internet and the sale of Southern New England Telephone, the lone, local constant has been the 203 area code.
Get ready for 475 ”“ as in “I-R-K” on a telephone”™s alphanumeric keys.
The Connecticut Department of Public Utilities is finally pushing ahead with plans to add two new area codes to the state, and businesses are scrambling to review systems and documents for any needed changes.
The new 475 area code would be assigned to new accounts in Fairfield and New Haven counties, which currently use the 203 prefix; new customers in the 860 area-code territory would receive the 959 area code.
DPUC took up the issue of a new area code for Fairfield and New Haven counties in 1999, three years after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 deregulated the industry, with regulators predicting the state would soon exhaust the supply of available telephone numbers.
Deregulation was followed by technical advances, however, that allowed businesses to limit the blocks of telephone numbers needed to route calls to all employees, and the state has been able to delay implementing new area codes.
DPUC now says the day has come, with the last available telephone number rooted to 203 destined to be awarded by the second quarter of 2010. The department is planning a phased “permissive period” beginning next week, in which calls can be made punching in either seven or 10 digits. Mandatory 10-digit dialing for local calls begins Dec. 1, in preparation for next year”™s implementation of the new area codes; DPUC estimates that 40 percent of the state”™s telephone lines already require 10-digit dialing for calls between the two existing area codes.
The change should result in a short-term burst of work for network installation companies, according to attorneys at Pullman & Comley, as many businesses may need to reprogram various telecommunications systems, such as PBX”™s that route calls to local extensions or auto-dialers for outbound call centers.
Unlike the case in 1995, when Connecticut added the 860 area code on geographic lines, the state is adopting an approach that assigns the new area codes to fresh accounts, similar to New York City”™s 1999 overlay of the 646 area code in areas already served by the historic 212 area code.
The same year, Connecticut ruled out restructuring the state”™s area codes based on geographic lines, deeming the cost too irksome for businesses and opting for an overlay approach that assigns the new area codes to new accounts.
For companies assigned new area codes, nevertheless, it will require employees at every level of an organization to be vigilant for needed changes to printed and online documents.
