THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997            TAG: 9702010293
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY DAVE MAYFIELD, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   46 lines

GOING, GOING, GONE; TIME IS UP FOR 804 TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY THAT CALLERS MUST USE THE NEW 757 AREA CODE.

Good morning, Hampton Roads. Or, for you late risers, good afternoon.

You've awakened in the land of 757.

Today's the day for the long-awaited area-code change. No more 804. That now belongs to central Virginia - the Richmond, Charlottesville, Danville and Lynchburg areas.

For Hampton Roads, the Eastern Shore and the rest of southeastern Virginia, the seven-month grace period to use both 804 and 757 has ended. Area code 757 is mandatory today.

If you're dialing long-distance to Williamsburg or to Chincoteague on the Shore, remember to use it.

And don't forget to tell your family and friends elsewhere. Otherwise, if they dial you long-distance using 804, they'll hear a recording telling them to hang up and call your number again with 757 in front. That recording will continue for a year.

By this time, most of us know why the new code was created. An explosion in the number of computers, fax machines, pagers and cellular phones ate up available telephone exchanges in old 804.

So to make room for even more new numbers, a new code had to be created - one of dozens of new ones across the United States in the past several years.

Nobody's telephone rates will change because of the new code. You still have the same local calling area.

Bell Atlantic and GTE, the region's two local phone companies, expect relatively few problems from the code change.

``Any problem we expect will come with people dialing into the area who aren't aware of the new code,'' said Bell Atlantic spokesman Paul Miller.

Both companies say some calls that should have been preceded by 757 may even slip by - but only for a day or so. The switches in each of their combined 95 central offices in the 804 and 757 areas have to reprogrammed to complete the changeover.

``It can't all be done at one time,'' said GTE spokeswoman Lacy Yeatts.

Just in case there's a problem, here are the phone companies' service numbers:

Bell Atlantic. Residential customer service, open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. today, 954-6222. Repair line, 24 hours a day, 611.

GTE. Residential customer service, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, (800) 483-4300. Repair line, 24 hours, (800) 483-1000.