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Issues
> 310 Area Code Split
November 20, 2005
The Redondo Beach Chamber's Current Position on the 310 Area
Code
We have avoided
an expensive and inconvenient area code split but the battle
continues. The Redondo Beach Chamber believes that the
California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) decision on
the 310 area code is flawed. The CPUC proposal attempts to
resolve our arguable number shortage with an overlay. This
proposal will require that 1 + the area code + the number
must be dialed on every call. That is 11 digits for every
local and long distance call.
You won't even be able to use your redial feature for missed
calls. The requirement to dial the "1" will cause the
re-dial feature to fail.
Currently, if you miss a local call, you may select re-dial
from your phone menu to place that call. The CPUC promotes a
solution which will ruin a perfectly good feature on our
telephone network. We support a 10 digit dialing overlay
(with permissive 11). This will expand the re-dial feature
on your home phone to work on local and long distance calls.
Perhaps the CPUC is listening to land-based phone companies
who argue that 10 digit dialing is "confusing". Wireless
phones use 10 digit dialing. The explosive growth of new
wireless customers counters that argument.
We are about to become an 11 digit dialing island. The CPUC
proposal would make the 310 area code the only overlay in
California, and perhaps the nation, where customers must
dial eleven digits instead of ten.
Future overlays will likely be 10 digits.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has Parity
Rules. Parity rules require that 1. What works in one area
code should work in another and 2. What works on a cell
phone network should work on your home or land-based phone.
The CPUC decision therefore lacks parity and may be in
violation of FCC rules.
We continue to press for proof that an overlay is necessary.
The Redondo Chamber maintains support for inventory
guidelines for numbering resources, which will help to
preserve the 310 Area Code and five other area codes in
California that are risk. We also support the establishment
of guidelines by which phone carriers can determine their
six-month inventory, require phone carriers to assess their
inventories and file inventory reports to the CPUC every six
months and necessitate phone carriers to return excess
inventory blocks. We also support expanding consumer
protection by making carriers more accountable for their
number inventories.
Should we require relief for our 310 area code, the relief
should be intelligent, economical and simple. We deserve
parity with other area code overlays. We believe that 10
digit dialing (with permissive 11) offers the fairest
solution for Redondo Beach.
July 1, 2005
Panel Advances 310 area
code bill
Legislation asks PUC to develop rules "to make sure the
phone companies aren't stockpiling numbers."
By Michael
Gardner
From the Daily Breeze
Copley News
Service
SACRAMENTO -- Two South Bay city councilmen left the Capitol
on Thursday satisfied that their mission succeeded in
helping to secure legislation that would push phone
companies to submit unimpeachable proof of disappearing
numbers before they can launch a second area code in the 310
region.
A Senate committee Thursday approved legislation that would
ask the Public Utilities Commission to develop a complete
accounting of available numbers in the 310 area code before
an overlay or area code split is considered in 2007.
"The Federal Communications Commission lets telephone
companies keep a six-month inventory of new telephone
numbers on hand to meet the demand for new numbers, but
there are absolutely no rules about how that inventory is
calculated and no assurance that companies aren't just
sitting on more numbers than they need," said Sen. Debra
Bowen, D-Redondo Beach.
"The goal here is to have the Public Utilities Commission
develop the rules needed to make sure the phone companies
aren't stockpiling numbers just to create an artificial
shortage, forcing a split or an overlay sooner than one
actually needs to happen," she said.
The measure has been significantly weakened through its
tortuous path in the Legislature, going from spelling out
specific accountability requirements for the phone companies
to its present form that is merely a recommendation.
But the revised legislation would seem to have a better
chance to reach the governor's desk. Phone company
representatives, who succeeded in winnowing out draconian
accounting systems proposed in earlier versions, did not put
up an aggressive assault on the latest offering.
Lomita City Councilman Mark Waronek shrugged off suggestions
that the surviving language is not as tough as originally
planned.
"We just want to make sure we're getting an honest answer as
far as an inventory goes. This should do that," he said.
Redondo Beach Councilman Steven Diels, who owns a customer
service call center, added, "We don't want to be onerous.
All we want is to have an inventory guideline that is
trustworthy. If these amendments work, we're happy with it."
The legislation is another round in a six-year battle by
many South Bay residents and businesses who suspect that
phone companies have not been fully forthcoming over the
amount of phone numbers still available within the 310 area
code.
"We just want the numbers to really be gone before we have
to dial 11 digits and change our stationery," Diels said.
Phone companies opposed to controls say they need the
flexibility a new area code would afford to give customers a
broad range of numbers and to accommodate a surging demand
for extra lines.
Bowen, who presented the legislation, pointed out that
companies claimed back in 1999 that the inventory was
rapidly depleting.
"Here we are, six years later. The 310 still exists as it
was. The world hasn't ended. Nobody's failed to get a 310
number," Bowen told the Senate Energy, Utilities and
Communications Committee.
The legislation, AB 1380, was introduced by the late
Assemblyman Mike Gordon, D-El Segundo. Bowen has adopted the
measure to keep it moving ahead.
The 7-3 vote sent the bill to the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
April 15, 2005
Stop
the Public Utilities Commission Proposal to
Establish a "Triggered Overlay" in the 310 Area Code
Redondo
Beach Chamber Position: OPPOSE
A “triggered overlay” is designed to extend the life
of an existing area code that is near exhaust,
without having to implement a split. This premise
assumes that there is an adequate system in place
for evaluating numbering resources.
Unfortunately, the current system is rife with
inconsistency and manipulation, and provides
inadequate consumer protections. The lack of
specific regulation in this area has led to a
situation where the carriers have more control over
how such resources are managed. Consumers neither
have confidence in what carriers represent, nor do
they have adequate means to evaluate carrier
representations. Without an objective means of
defining the inventories carriers may maintain and
established guidelines for consistent inventory
management, there can be no agreement on the
“trigger” itself.
Public meetings scheduled will provide a
presentation describing the elements of both the
geographic overlay as alternative means of creating
a new area code. Members of the public will be
provided an opportunity to speak.
Tuesday, April 26 2:00pm at El Segundo City
Hall
Tuesday, April 26 6:30pm at Redondo Beach City
Hall
Why We Oppose the PUC Proposal
The Chamber believes it is premature to
establish
a
triggered overlay
without the appropriate
regulatory framework in place to evaluate the
current inventory of numbers within 310 or any other
area code in the state. Not only is a
triggered overlay
bad for consumers, it would also set a bad precedent
for area code management in California.
April 12, 2005
The 310 Area
Code Issue - In Depth
The rapid growth
in demand for telephone numbers, particularly with the
growth of the wireless telephone industry in California, has
led to a proliferation of new area codes. The California
Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which is tasked with
managing the numbering resources for the state, is
authorized to order the split of an area code (and the
launch of a new one in that area) when it determines that an
area code is nearing exhaustion.
Such splits are
costly and inconvenient to consumers and businesses because
they necessitate numerous expenses such as changing
letterhead and marketing plans as well as contacting clients
and others to inform them of number changes. Splits also
represent a particular burden to seniors and the disabled
community who face significant challenges to change their
dialing habits.
Under current law, telephone numbering is regulated in part
by the PUC and in part by the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC). The Public Utilities Code requires that
the PUC implement “all reasonable” conservation measures
before approving an area code split, meaning that the PUC
must ensure that the area code is truly running out of
numbers before it deems a split is necessary.
The FCC,
meanwhile, has adopted various rules relating to the
utilization of numbering resources, including authorizing
each carrier to maintain no more than a six-month inventory
of numbers. Neither the PUC nor the FCC has set forth
specific directives for how carriers determine their
inventory needs.
Because the PUC relies so heavily on carriers for
information about number utilization, it cannot ensure that
it has implemented all reasonable conservation measures and
no law or regulatory policy currently exists, at either the
state or federal level, that allows the PUC to independently
and adequately track carrier inventories. Additionally,
information on number utilization is not provided to the
public, so consumers have no recourse to challenge
assumptions.
October
20, 2004
Area Code Split is Costly to
Redondo Beach Business
The Chamber's Position on a 310 Area Code split
- It is not necessary to split the 310 area code at this time.
- Thanks to the very successful number conservation measures that the PUC and
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have already put in place, we are
actually gaining available numbers in the 310 area code. Innovation is working
and there are more numbers available in the area code than a year ago.
- The PUC has made great strides in number conservation. Their policies are
working. Additional measures should be implemented.
- The “crisis” the carriers believe is imminent is artificial - The FCC and CPUC
historically have been overly pessimistic when forecasting how soon a particular
area code is going to run out of numbers. Numbers are consistently used at a
much slower rate than is predicted by telephone carriers. Area codes shouldn’t
be changed for the convenience of the carriers
- We want to ensure that local disruptions to our residents and businesses won’t
unnecessarily happen through an unneeded area code change.
- In this economic climate, disruptions and costs to business from an area code
change will be magnified in the harm they will create.
- Many businesses rely on a stable telephone number as a lifeline to their
customers. Area code splits force them to reconnect with those customers.
- Small businesses must also undertake the expense of new advertising,
stationery, signage and other materials to reflect the new telephone number.
- Senior citizens rely on a stable telephone number to stay in touch with
family, friends and doctors.
- Cities incur costs for area code changes too.
- Number inventory must be managed the way any business would be expected to
manage its inventory.
- In this time of limited budgets, a slow economy and general disruptions to our
daily life, changing our area code when there could be years of available
numbers still remaining is unjustified.
Bottom Line
Don’t split the 310 area code now. Watch the number usage closely and redouble
efforts to free up additional numbers and slow the rate of number exhaust by
petitioning the FCC for additional conservation measures.
October
20, 2004
Redondo Beach Chamber Assists in Defeating
Plan to Split 310 Area Code
Redondo Chamber businesses and residents located south of Los Angles
International Airport and Imperial Highway received some good news last
week: they will be able lo keep their 310 phone numbers- for now.
Meeting on Oct. 7, the California Public Utilities Commission rejected a
plan that would have split the 310 area code due to a dwindling pool of
available phone numbers.
Over 60 letters from chamber members who opposed the split were sent to the
PUC Commissioners. Testifying at the hearing in San Francisco and
representing the South Bay were Tom Martin, from Supervisor Don Knabe's
office; John Parsons; Councilman from Redondo Beach and immediate past
chair of South Bay Cities Council of Governments; Eric Edwards, from Jane
Harman's office and Olivia Lopez, from the Torrance City Manager's office.
The 4-1 vote to reject the geographic split
means residents in the South Bay won't be switched to a 424 area code. Under
the proposal, the 310 area code would have been for the area north of LAX
and the Imperial Highway.
According to the CPUC, there are now 132,000
more available telephone numbers in the 310 area code than there were last
October, when the commission last considered the proposal.
But commissioner Loretta Lynch, who opposed the split, said 2 million phone
numbers are still available.
In an effort to conserve telephone numbers, the
commission implemented measures over the past two years such as number
pooling, wireless portability and tightened restrictions on how telephone
carriers use blocks of numbers.
"The success of (he PUC's number conservation
measures has consistently spared the families and businesses of the 310 area
code the burden of a split," Lynch said.
Some commissioners have indicated their interest in pursuing an overlay as
originally implemented on a short-term basis in 1999.
The coalition will continue to work with the
CPUC to implement phone number conservation methods to extend the life of
the 310 area code.
Background
The 310 area code is once
again in danger of being split in half. If this happens, every telephone
number in the South Bay would have to switch to area code 424.
This issue is on the
agenda for the September 23 meeting of the California Public Utilities
Commission (PUC). Commissioners will consider the decision of an
Administrative Law Judge that calls for implementing the split of the 310
area code. Dialing changes would start around May 2005.
PUC Commissioner
Loretta Lynch has presented an alternate decision which states that there
are still sufficient numbers available and with additional number
conservation measures, the 310 area code could remain intact for at least
several more years.
Commissioner Lynch has
already been instrumental in spearheading successful number conservation
measures that require the carriers to use the numbers available more
efficiently.
The Chamber
SUPPORTS
Commissioner Lynch's
alternate decision.
Click here
to contact the Redondo Beach Chamber
for more
information
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