Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 23, 1994 TAG: 9407250049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
When the state's third area code was announced July 6, residents of those counties complained about having to dial the extra digits to telephone other county residents and services.
``We are making these changes in an effort to better meet the needs of our customers who are located near the boundary line,'' said Bell Atlantic President and CEO Hugh R. Stallard.
``Our customers have made it clear there is a need to tie the communities of Leesburg and Ashburn in with 703 customers in the eastern part of [Loudoun] County. Moreover, we have heard from a number of Stafford customers who prefer to be aligned with the Fredericksburg metropolitan area in the new 540 area code.''
The original plan was the most economical, but did not address the concerns of Loudoun and Stafford residents, Stallard said. It followed the boundary of the Washington, D.C., regional calling area established by the Justice Department in the 1984 breakup of the Bell system.
The change is ``the result of seeing this situation from a small picture,'' said Sen. John Chichester, R-Fredericksburg, who championed an informal appeal to alter the proposed plan. ``I think once they realized what they proposed to do, they saw it was not in the best interests of Stafford County and that area.''
The new area code goes into effect July 15, 1995. It will split the 703 area code, leaving the fast-growing suburbs closest to the District of Columbia with the old area code and assigning the 540 code to Western Virginia and the rest of Northern Virginia.
The earlier plan would have placed Leesburg in the 540 area code, and the eastern portion of Loudoun County in 703. The revised plan puts Leesburg and Ashburn (numbers that begin with 443, 771, 777, 779 and 729) in the 703 area.
The Stafford County area that will be switched to 540 has telephone numbers that begin with 657, 659 and 720. Only Stafford numbers that begin with 221 and 441 will remain in the 703 area code.
by CNB