PUC PLANNING TO BREAK UP 805 AREA CODE : COMPUTERS, FAXES FILLING UP PHONE LINES.

Byline: Christopher Noxon and Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writers

At half capacity and filling up fast, the 805 area code is headed for a split in a change that could affect telephone users from the sagebrush of Antelope Valley to the coastline of Ventura.

Telecommunications officials announced Thursday that a new area code must be wedged within the boundaries of 805 within two years. The announcement comes as all of the state's 15 area codes are splintering to satisfy a voracious appetite for phone lines to carry new tools of telecommunication, including fax machines, cellular phones, pagers and modems.

One of the largest area codes in the state, 805 includes most of Ventura County, all of Santa Barbara County, most of San Luis Obispo and Kern counties and the northern part of Los Angeles County.

Established 40 years ago, the area code has grown dramatically in its number of telephones, computer-dedicated phone lines, pagers, fax machines and other telephone users in the past two years, with 285 prefixes now remaining from a maximum of 782.

``Right now you're OK - but at the rate you're going, it will all be gone by the year 2000,'' said Kyle DeVine, a spokeswoman for the Public Utilities Commission.

Just who will feel the sting of the split will be decided next year, after phone company officials host a series of public meetings to review alternatives.

Business leaders have fought geographic splits, arguing that the cost of altering everything from letterheads to invoices is a costly drain on those forced to change their phone numbers

``We've gone through prefix changes and ZIP code changes,'' said Sandy Corrales, president of the Palmdale Chamber of Commerce. ``With all the growth out here it's almost inevitable. I just hope it's not our area'' that is assigned the new area code.

Corrales said she wants to make sure the chamber's nearly 900 members will have a chance to provide input to the area code split and get to speak at the public meetings.

But Santa Clarita city and civic officials said they could learn to live with a new, three-digit number if necessary.

``For the residents, it'll be a nuisance, and it might have an adverse effect on businesses,'' Councilwoman Jill Klajic said, adding that once callers learn the new area code they'll adjust to the change.

Civic leaders worry that a new area code would force businesses to spend thousands of dollars updating stationery and advertising and notifying customers of the change.

``Businesses don't embrace that concept,'' said Tim Burkhart, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce. ``There's always a cost involved, whether it be stationery, advertising or business costs relative to people having the wrong number.''

But he added that businesses, while resistant to the change, understand the need for a new area code and could learn to live with it.

``We understand it's a necessity with the increase in technology dependent on the phone system,'' Burkhart said. ``It's just something that has to happen. Certainly everybody else in the country (has) been living with (area code changes), and they won't make an exception for Santa Clarita.''

Business leaders in Ventura County said the change is an inevitable part of commerce at the turn of the century.

``We knew this would happen sooner or later,'' said Nancy Williams, executive director of the Ventura County Economic Development Association. ``As long as we're given plenty of lead time, I can't see why we'd have a problem making the change. With everything else business has to worry about right now, this is pretty low on the totem pole.''

While proposals have yet to be drafted, the existing area code will likely be split into two geographic areas, possibly separating coastal regions from inland areas. Regulators said they will attempt to set a boundary that disrupts the fewest telephone users.

``The area is so big that we have quite a job,'' said Doug Hescox, the area code relief coordinator for the California Code Administration. ``We'll look at rivers and mountain ranges and freeways, and try to figure out the natural split.''

Ventura County could be hit hardest by an east-west split, separating a county that has always operated under one area code.

``Ventura County looks like the wild card right now,'' said David Dickstein, a spokesman for Pacific Bell. ``The east-west split looks like it works naturally everywhere except Ventura. They'll probably look at dozens of alternatives before settling on one.''

New technologies have fueled the demand for new phone numbers. Internet and wireless services have been the biggest users, but automated teller machines and even pay-at-the-pump credit card services all work on dedicated phone lines.

``Many people believe area codes run out of numbers because of population growth, but the real reason is technology,'' Dickstein said. ``Five years ago, none of us expected homes to have lines for Internet service or faxes or pagers. All those demands equal numbers.''

Deregulation of the local phone industry has also increased demand. More than 100 phone companies are preparing to enter the market, each of which will be assigned entire banks of numbers, DeVine said.

Some telephone companies have lobbied regulators to divide area codes through what is known as overlay zones, leaving existing phone numbers unchanged and assigning new area codes to new phone lines. Splitting up geographic areas hurts companies and inconveniences individuals, Dickstein said.

``There are countless hours of updating databases, accounting software, billing records, phone lists,'' he said. ``It's a huge inconvenience that can be avoided. The biggest winner in a split are the printing companies.''

State regulators, however, say overlay zones would be an even bigger inconvenience, as phone users suddenly face multiple area codes in the same location and the prospect of dialing 11 digits every time they pick up the phone.

``People don't like the possibility of their businesses and homes having mixed telephone numbers, and they don't like the possibility of having to dial so many numbers on every call they make,'' DeVine said.

The Public Utilities Commission recently ruled that overlay options won't be considered again until 2001, long after the 805 code is scheduled for its split.

But at the rate phone users are gobbling up new numbers, Dickstein said, geographic splits won't work forever.

``If we keep splitting and splitting and splitting, we'll have little pieces of area codes and no geographic significance at all,'' he said. ``We're all going to have to get used to the fact that we're going to be dialing 11 digits. We know we're heading that way.''

The plan is being coordinated by an industry group of more than 30 companies.