And the New Number is ... 925; Plan Filed to Split East Bay's 510 Area Code.

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 19, 1996--An area code relief plan has been submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission that would split the 510 area code in San Francisco's East Bay and create a new area code -- 925 -- to serve part of that area.

California Code Administrator Bruce Bennett submitted the 510 area code relief plan on Wednesday to the Commission for review and final approval. Bennett said the plan is supported by the telecommunications industry and reflects customer input received during three public meetings in October.

Introduction of the new 925 area code, which will be California's 19th, is planned for March 14, 1998, and is needed to meet the rapidly growing demand for additional phone numbers in the 510 area code, which currently serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties and very small sections of Solano and San Joaquin counties.

Under the plan, the existing 510 area code would be split using the east-west topographic boundary of the Oakland Hills. The details are as follows: -0-

-- Customers in the existing 510 area code west of the Oakland Hills would keep the 510 area code. Some of the communities in this area include: Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward, Fremont, Richmond, Hercules, El Sobrante, Crockett and Pinole.

-- Customers in the existing 510 area code east of the Oakland Hills would receive the new 925 area code and would need to change the area code portion of their telephone number. Some of the communities in this area include: Martinez, Concord, Walnut Creek, Orinda, San Ramon, Moraga, Sunol, Livermore and Pleasanton. -0-

The CPUC is expected to issue a final decision on the 510 area code relief plan in the next few months. Persons who wish to comment on the plan may write to the:

California Public Utilities Commission

President P. Gregory Conlon

505 Van Ness Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94102

Bennett said two 510 area code relief options were presented to the public for comment during meetings in October: a north/south split that divided the 510 at the Contra Costa and Alameda County lines, and an east-west split similar to the plan submitted to the CPUC. The east-west plan was modified to incorporate public comment and input from elected officials, Bennett said.

"The north/south plan to split along county lines did not receive strong public support," he explained. "People told us the county line divisions were not as significant as the community of interest that exists between various areas." Instead, people generally preferred the east-west plan, with some suggested modification. "We heard concerns that the east-west plan should leave west Contra Costa County in the 510 due to a strong community of interest between cities there and in northern Alameda County. We were able to make that adjustment with little impact on the life of the 510 area code."

As proposed, the new 925 area code would last about 13 to 16 years, while the reconfigured 510 would have enough numbers to accommodate growth through the year 2004, a lifespan of about six years.

While customers who receive the new 925 area code will have to change the area code portion of their telephone number, the new three-digit code will not affect the price of telephone calls in any of these areas, Bennett said. "Call distance determines call price and is not impacted by the creation of a new area code," he said. "What is a local call now will remain a local call regardless of the area code change.

"It's also important for customers to know that PBX's, private phone systems, auto-dialers, alarms and other telecommunications equipment will have to be re-programmed to recognize the new area codes," said Bennett, adding that people should check with their equipment vendors to see if their equipment needs to be reprogrammed. "Historically, area codes always had either a `1' or a `0' as the middle digit for identification purposes, but all of those codes have been used." These new number combinations allow area codes to be any three digits from 220 to 999, creating an additional 5 billion telephone numbers nationwide, Bennett said.

Bennett also noted that when the new 925 area code is introduced in March, 1998, there will be a six-month "permissive" dialing period during which callers can dial either the old or new area code.

San Francisco's East Bay is the latest in a series of regions in California requiring area code relief. Today, California has 13 area codes, more than any other state. Plans call for doubling that number from 13 to 26 over the next five years to keep up with the state's record telephone number consumption. That consumption is being spurred by the high-technology explosion of fax machines, pagers, cellular phones and modems for Internet access along with the onset of local competition in California's telephone market. Ten of the 13 new area codes will be introduced by mid-1998.

Plans for the 510 area code were collectively developed by a telecommunications industry group representing more than 30 companies, including Pacific Bell, AT&T, MCI, Sprint, AirTouch, Pagenet, AT&T Wireless, MFS Communications Co., Teleport Communications Group (TCG), the California Cable Television Association and others.

CONTACT: Pacific Telesis

John Britton, 415/394-3764