Maine Public Utilities Commission

NEWS RELEASE 

Maine Public Utilities Commission
242 State Street
Augusta, Maine 04333-0018
Website: http://www.state.me.us/mpuc/, Email: maine.puc@maine.gov
CONTACT: Phillip Lindley, 207.287.1598, phil.lindley@maine.gov

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2002

No New Area Code For Maine!
PUC Successful With Number Conservation Measures 

 

AUGUSTA, MAINE – Maine will continue to be one of only 14 states with one area code, the same one we have had since 1947.  On October 29, 2002, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) notified the Commission that the industry petition for area code relief (adding another area code) is officially withdrawn.  The petition was originally filed on August 7, 1998 when the projected exhaust date for the 207 area code was the fourth quarter of 2001.  Now, due to extensive efforts by the Commission at both state and federal levels, the projected exhaust date is the fourth quarter of 2008, a seven-year extension.  While we feel that NANPA’s exhaust date estimate is conservative, in that we expect to be able to keep to a single area code far beyond even 2008, we applaud NANPA's recognition that Maine’s number conservation efforts have made a significant difference.

The Maine PUC lead a nationwide effort by state regulatory commissions to get the FCC to change its rules relating to number resource allocation and to begin using more efficient methods, such a thousand block number pooling.  Under pooling, carriers are given blocks of 1,000 numbers rather than 10,000 for each exchange that they serve.  In June 2000, Maine became one of the first states in the nation to employ thousand-block number pooling.  Because of the rural nature of our state and our many small towns, pooling has been very effective in increasing the efficiency of number usage in Maine.  The Commission has also adopted additional conservation measures which, when combined with number pooling, should continue to delay the need for a second area code in Maine well beyond the time estimated by NANPA.  Indeed, based upon preliminary calculations by PUC staff, we believe that our conservation efforts will extend the life of the 207 Area Code for at least 10 to15 years.  “Given that five years ago, the North American Numbering Plan Administrator told us that a new area code would be needed by June of 2000, we believe our efforts have been well spent and will continue to benefit Maine consumers and businesses for many years to come,” said Chairman Thomas Welch.

The Commission will continue to advocate for all the regulatory and conservation tools we need, both at the FCC and in coordination with industry and other state commissions.  Maine consumers and businesses should not be burdened by the costs and inconveniences associated with new area codes when effective conservation measures can avoid the need for a new area code in the first place.

When the current national numbering scheme was adopted in 1947, 86 area codes were assigned to the US and Canada – 35 states had a single area code.  There are 680 usable area codes in the United States, of which 311 are currently in use (for the US, Canada, and the Caribbean).  Each area code has 7,920,000 telephone numbers (10,000 for each of 792 prefixes) available within it.  Some numbers, such as those that would start with 0,1 or 911, are unavailable for use.  Others, like the area code "555", which is used for fake phone numbers in movies and on TV, are reserved for special use.  There have been 670 prefixes already assigned or unavailable in Maine.  About 130 prefixes remain for use (1.3 million telephone numbers).

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For more information: 

Maine PUC Docket No. 98-634 (http://www.state.me.us/mpuc/areacode.htm)
North American Numbering Plan Administration: http://www.nanpa.com
Federal Communications Commission: http://www.fcc.gov

All PUC News Releases may be found on our website at: http://www.state.me.us/mpuc/newsreleases2002.htm 

To arrange an interview with Chairman Welch or Commissioners Nugent or Diamond, please contact Phillip Lindley at 207.287.1598 or by e-mail at phil.lindley@maine.gov.  The Commission’s website may be accessed through the Maine School and Library Network at all public libraries in Maine.