Idaho Public Utilities Commission

February 26, 2009

Contact: Gene Fadness (208) 334-0339, 890-2712

Eastern Oregon to get second area code next year

Some western Idaho residents who have toll-free calling into Oregon will soon be dialing an area code along with the seven-digit number, even for toll-free calls.

The Oregon Public Utility Commission recently approved a second area code for eastern Oregon that will be applied to new phone numbers. The new 458 area code will become effective in 2010. But because existing numbers will retain their original 541 area code, western Idaho callers will have to dial 10 digits when phoning someone in eastern Oregon.

A number of Idahoans along the Idaho-Oregon border have toll-free calling into Ontario, Nyssa and other communities in the current 541 area code. In 2010, those Idaho callers will have to use either the 541 area code or the new 458 area code even for toll-free calls. Dialing for 911 emergency calls will not change.

In many parts of the country, as the number of available telephone numbers assigned to landline and cellular phones, pages and FAX machines decrease, states have been forced to add new area codes. Typically, area codes were assigned by geographic region. When that happened, residents and businesses in the part of the state that got the new area code had to change their phone numbers.

In more recent years, states have gone to “area code overlays,” which assigns the new area code to new numbers only while existing numbers retain the same area code. This method is less disruptive, particularly to businesses. However, the area code overlay does require people calling into the area to dial 10 digits, instead of seven, because more than one area code exists in the same geographic region.

Idaho has been able to delay implementation of a second area code by implementing a numbers conservation plan. However, the federal agency that administers area codes has informed the state that its current 208 area code is projected to expire in the second quarter of 2012. Later this year, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission will examine ways to respond to the projected area code exhaust.