New area codes in store for 570?

PUC seeks comments on 570 renumbering plan HARRISBURG — The Public Utility Commission (PUC) Thursday sought comments on two petitions that would create new area codes in the 814 and 570 area code geographic regions. The Commission voted 5-0 to deny the industry consensus recommendations to adopt plans to add new area codes to the 814 and 570 NPAs to avoid exhaust of those NPAs. New area codes are needed when existing area codes exhaust their supply of “NXX” or local exchange codes (which is the second set of three digits in a 10-digit telephone number, NPA-NXX-XXXX). Petitioners claimed those numbers for the 570 and 814 area codes are close to becoming exhausted. Both petitions stated that Pennsylvania’s telecommunication industry had reached a consensus to recommend that the commission implement an “all services distributed overlay,” which would assign a new NPA (area) code to the same geographic area as the 814 and 570 area codes. The petitions were denied on the grounds that the commission needs time to gather input from consumers, the industry and other interested parties before making the decision to implement the appropriate form of relief for these area codes. The Commission will seek and review comments from all parties before a decision is determined. For recent news releases, audio of select Commission proceedings or more information about the PUC, visit its Web site at www.puc.state.pa.us.