Rural Utahns have frequently complained that they feel cut off from the urbanized Wasatch Front. As of next year, that feeling may become even more substantial: They'll have a different telephone area code, according to a tentative industry recommendation.
Telephone industry officials have been aware for years that Utah's phone population explosion was gobbling up all available telephone number combinations in the 801 area code that serves the entire state. The growth isn't only in new homes but in cellular and paging devices and fax and modem lines.By creating a new area code, an additional 792 prefixes become available. While some limitations apply to the kinds of combinations available - for example, there is no "000" prefix - that addition should allow many hundreds of thousands of new numbers.
Telephone industry officials have met twice since May 1 to decide how to divide the state into two area codes. They have circulated a draft plan for recommendations.
"Those comments were supposed to be in by today," Duane Cooke, spokesman for US WEST, said on Friday. A final version of the plan is to be delivered to the Utah Public Service Commission next week.
The PSC will decide if the plan is acceptable.
Under the draft proposal, telephone exchanges in the Wasatch Front - Weber, Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties - would keep the 801 area code. "Telephone subscribers outside that area would be assigned a new area code," Cooke said.
If the plan is implemented, the new area code would be phased in starting around the middle of 1997. Until the start of 1998, people calling phones outside the Wasatch Front would have the option of using either the new or old area code.
"Around the first of 1998, use of the new code would be mandatory."
Telephone executives have two goals in splitting the state, Cooke said: to minimize impacts on customers and to put off another change as long as possible. People living outside the four counties would not need to change their area code again in the foreseeable future.
However, Salt Lake, Weber, Davis and Utah counties may face another split in eight to 10 years, judging by increases in demands for telephone numbers.
Meanwhile, exactly what is the new area code? Industry officials are mum about that for now.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
New area code
Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, Utah counties will keep 801 as their area code. All other counties will receive a new code.