Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 1, 1994 TAG: 9404010076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But, Bell Atlantic-Virginia Inc. said Thursday, it will be August 1995 before it it carves its 703 telephone territory into two pieces.
One will retain the 703 area code and the other will be given a new designation.
The company said the three digits that will be used for the new area code have not been picked nor have its precise geographic boundaries been drawn. The 703 area code covers the western and northern areas of the state.
Bell Atlantic said designation of a new area code is necessary because the possibilities for new phone numbers in the current 703 area code quickly are being used up. There are a maximum of 792 possible exchange codes for the first three digits of a phone number in the 703 area and all but about 100 of those are now in service.
The company said the growing popularity of fax machines, pagers and cellular phones has contributed to the growing demand for phone numbers.
Bell Atlantic said it will conduct an economic study over the next three months to find the best way to provide relief for its 703 area. One part of that study will look at a possibility of providing a separate area code in the area specifically for cellular telephone and paging companies, said Paul Miller, a Bell Atlantic spokesman.
There is no regulatory approval necessary for the plan that is developed for the new area code, Miller said. Bell Atlantic is the administrator of area codes for Virginia, he said.
Miller said Bell Atlantic will be consulting with the 14 other local exchange telephone companies and wireless telephone carriers in the 703 calling area as part of its study.
The company won't know exactly what the new boundaries and other details of the new area code will be until the end of June when the study is completed, Miller said.
The company will mail letters to its business customers in August providing the details of the change. Bell Atlantic has an obligation to notify businesses of a change in their area code a year in advance so they can make preparations for it such as changing the phone numbers printed on their stationery, he said.
The selection of the new three-digit code will be done by Bell Communications Research, a research consortium of the nation's major Bell operating companies. BellCor is administrator of the North American numbering plan for telephone communications.
In another change announced Thursday, Bell Atlantic said beginning in May telephone customers in the state's 804 area code will be asked to dial the number 804 before the local number when placing long-distance calls within that area-code.
The change, similar to one made in the 703 region a few years back, is being made to increase the number combinations available in the 804 region, the company said.
by CNB