PSC agrees to appropriate phone prefixes

Pauline Bell

Friday, May 30, 1997 | 11:44 a.m.

The Nevada Public Service Commission unanimously has agreed to be the impartial third party in charge of appropriating the 210 remaining prefixes in the state's existing 702 area code.

There is a possibility Nevada could run out of prefixes before it gets a new area code in 1998.

The state's telephone industry and Nevada's area code relief coordinator asked the PSC to perform the service to avoid any appearance of partiality in awarding the remaining codes.

In a 5-0 vote Thursday the commission voted to perform the duty if several conditions can be met.

The first is that the process is not a violation of state law.

Because companies petitioning for new prefixes file their applications in confidence and awards also are confidential, commissioners said they want to make sure that the responsibility does not violate the open meeting law, said PSC spokesman Rick Hackman.

Commissioners also want representatives of the telephone industry to formulate a procedure for allocating the prefixes, he added.

The PSC is expected to decide next month whether Northern or Southern Nevada that gets the new area code. After that, Nevada area code relief coordinator Doug Hescox will announce what that code will be.