Utah may 'overlay' area code

Someday, people along the Wasatch Front may need to dial 10 digits instead of the traditional seven to make a local phone call.

But telecommunications company representatives said that approach may actually be less confusing and less costly than another option when the new 385 area code is needed.

On the plus side, they said, existing customers would not have to change their phone numbers.

At a technical conference Thursday of the Utah Public Service Commission, the telecom representatives said an "overlay" of the 385 area code over the existing 801 code would cause fewer hassles for both customers and the companies than a split in which Salt Lake County would retain 801 while people in four other counties would have to switch to 385.

"Customers in the state stand to benefit far more so from an overlay than a split," attorney Stephen Mecham, representing AT&T, said during the conference. "None of the customers in the state with an overlay will have to give up their telephone numbers, whereas with a split, customers in four of the five counties along the Wasatch Front will have to use a new area code, which will change their number."

The move to the 385 area code is being forced by the depletion of numbers with the 801 code, which is expected to be exhausted in the second quarter of 2009. The commission in 2000 ordered the split, but it has not been implemented because phone number conservation techniques enabled a delay.

That 2000 order called for Salt Lake County to retain 801, but Weber, Morgan, Davis and Utah counties would switch to 385. An overlay option would retain 801 in all five counties, with the 385 code being added to new phone numbers when the 801 numbers are exhausted.

Telecom companies preferred the overlay method in 2000, but the commission found it "unacceptable," citing several reasons but saying it was "primarily concerned with minimizing the impact on the general populace." People attending four public hearings that year voiced support for the split.

But telecom representatives Thursday said customer habits and preferences have changed since 2000 and that a split would be confusing and costly to customers having to switch to the 385 code. In particular, small businesses with a new area code could be hurt as customers try to call them with the old area code, they said.

While an overlay would require all local calls to include an area code, a split would result in some local calls needing only seven digits and others requiring 10.

Mecham noted that a local call from Salt Lake County to elsewhere in the county under the split format would need seven digits, a call to Davis County would require 10 and a call to Ogden, 11. Overlays require 10 for local calls and 11 for long distance.