Telephone prefix shortage rings call for conservation

Pauline Bell

Wednesday, May 28, 1997 | 10:48 a.m.

The Silver State could run out of telephone prefixes before it gets a new area code late next year.

That's why the Nevada Public Service Commission is being asked this week to be the impartial third party in charge of designating the 210 remaining prefixes in the state's existing 702 area code.

"We need a neutral third party to handle the allocation of the remaining prefixes in Nevada and we have asked the Nevada commission to be that neutral third party," said Doug Hescox, Nevada area code relief coordinator.

The request stems from a desire to avoid any appearances that one telephone service provider is receiving favoritism over another, he explained.

"There is a possibility we could run out before we get the relief (a new area code) in," he said. "That's why we are in a rationing plan. This is an allocation plan the industry does on itself to make sure there are enough (prefixes)."

The PSC's general counsel has recommended that the commission grant the request.

Twenty years ago, a request like this would have been considered unusual, Hescox said. Now with a significant number of area codes in jeopardy across the country, the industry goes to this kind of allocation scheme "just to make sure everybody has numbers until we get relief in place."

If a service provider requests additional prefixes, it must certify that it has a need for them under the allocation plan, he said.

Hescox said the normal telephone user who may want an extra phone line in his home or small business should have no problem.

"It's the person who wants 20,000 numbers who is going to have the problem. To the average person, this will be transparent to them," he said.

The companies this could possibly affect are those requiring thousands of lines, such as new megaresorts. Others affected could include telecommunications providers, such as the upstart local telephone companies, cellular and digital cellular providers, specialized mobile radio companies and Internet providers.

Industry observers say the PSC could decide by next month whether it will be northern or southern Nevada that gets the new area code. After that, Hescox will announce what that code will be.

Nevada is one of 14 states that still has a single area code. By 2007, it is anticipated there will be only eight states with a single area code.

Every area code has the capacity to provide 7.9 million phone numbers. Area code 702 served about 5.1 million numbers as of late March and is growing at an annual rate of 90,000.