(Note:  for ease of presentation in this format, footnotes have been converted 
to endnotes.)
Agenda Date:       June 16, 2000
Item Number:
 Docket:                   UT-990219 - Area Code 360 Relief Plan
Company Name:          Telecommunications General 
Staff:                            David Dittemore, Telecommunications Engineer
                            Betty Erdahl, Policy Research Specialist 
                            Glenn Blackmon, Assistant Director - 
Telecommunications
Recommendation: 
Issue an order delaying implementation of the 564 overlay area code in the 360 
area code until October 20, 2001.
Discussion 
Last year the telecommunications industry determined that it was running out of 
three-digit prefixes within the 360 area code, which itself had been created 
only four years earlier. The industry developed a "relief plan" in which a new 
code, 564, would be overlaid on the 360 area starting July 29, 2000. The WUTC 
accepted the plan at its September 29, 1999 meeting, but on February 23, 2000 
it determined that the implementation date could be postponed until February 
2001.1 
In delaying the 564 implementation date, the WUTC encouraged the industry to 
demonstrate that it is using the prefixes it already has as efficiently as 
possible, so that a new area code will not be imposed on consumers and 
businesses needlessly. Introduction of the new area code will require that 
customers dial the area code on all local calls, including calls to the same 
area code.
Since that decision, the WUTC has also approved an area code relief plan for 
the central Puget Sound area codes B 206, 425, and 253. Under this plan, the 
564 overlay will be applied to those area codes as well, starting October 16, 
2001.
Based on the continuing efforts of the industry and the WUTC, Staff now 
believes that a further delay in the 564 overlay code is both feasible and 
desirable. In particular, a later date would help coordinate the implementation 
of the 564 overlay code in all areas of western Washington. On May 25, 2000 
WUTC Chairwoman Marilyn Showalter convened a policy summit of companies holding 
prefixes in the 360 area code. At that meeting there was consensus that a 
single implementation date for the entire region would be more understandable 
for consumers and would reduce the education and advertising costs of the 
industry.
Staff has worked closely with area code 360 prefix holders since then and has 
identified several methods by which the industry may be able to extend the life 
of the 360 area code until October 2001. These include consolidating rate 
centers, returning unused prefixes to the number administrator, sharing 
prefixes, and reducing the monthly allocation of new prefixes. These strategies 
were discussed with the industry at a number conservation technical meeting on 
June 7, 2000.
The companies that have said they can help extend the life of area code 360 by 
either returning prefixes to the number administrator or consolidating rate 
centers include AT&T, Avista Communications, Global Crossing, GST, GTE, 
International Telecom, SBC Telecom, Sprint, and US West. Other companies are 
still reviewing their business plans to see whether they could contribute to 
the number conservation effort.
The various discussions with the industry as a group and with individual 
companies lead Staff to believe that it is feasible to delay implementation of 
the 564 overlay code until October 2001. Several companies have already 
identified prefixes that can be returned to the pool, and additional prefixes 
can be returned as rate center consolidation plans are finalized. In addition, 
Staff anticipates that, if the WUTC grants this delay, that the number 
administrator will convene the area code 360 prefix holders to consider whether 
to reduce the monthly allocation of prefixes. Taken together, these strategies 
should enable the industry to meet its needs for numbers and still delay 
implementation of the 564 overlay code.
Conclusion 
A delay in implementing the 564 overlay code in the 360 area will greatly 
enhance the success of the industry's education efforts. The continuing efforts 
of the industry to use telephone prefixes efficiently will permit a delay 
without interfering with the industry's need for additional numbers. 
 _____________
Endnotes:
       1 The WUTC has continuing jurisdiction over the implementation of the 
relief plan. Federal rules state: 
47 CFR 52.19 Area code relief.
(a) State commissions may resolve matters involving the introduction of new 
area codes within their states. Such matters may include, but are not limited 
to: Directing whether area code relief will take the form of a geographic 
split, an overlay, or a boundary realignment; establishing new area code 
boundaries; establishing necessary dates for the implementation of area code 
relief plans; and directing public education and notification efforts regarding 
area code changes.