New telephone area code proposed for the 209 region. Why you will need to dial 10 numbers
Telephone customers in Stanislaus, Merced and other counties are going to see some changes to the 209 area code.
The California Public Utilities Commission says it will introduce a new area code to the 209 geographic area because of projections phone carriers will start running out of new phone numbers in December 2022.
Before the new area code plan is even approved, residents in the 209 area are expected to stop using 7-digit dialing for local calls and convert to 10-digit dialing for those calls in October. That change is necessary for the federal government to implement the “988” national suicide prevention hotline.
The North American Numbers Planning Administrator made an application April 9 asking the California PUC for a relief plan to implement a new area code on top of the 209 geographic area on Oct. 1, 2022.
The 209 area includes San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Tuolumne , Calaveras and other counties and parts of Sacramento, Madera and Fresno counties.
The new area code — which hasn’t been disclosed yet — will be introduced through an overlay method, pending approval from the CPUC.
It won’t be an area code split like the controversial one in 1997, in which the southern portion of the original 209 area was split off for the 559 area code. Area code splits usually create an uproar when businesses and other entities placed in the new area code incur the costs of changing letterhead, business cards, websites and more.
The 209 area code was created in 1958 when the Bay Area’s 415 area code was redrawn. According to the NANPA petition, the new area code will meet phone service needs for 31 years.
Christopher Chow, a CPUC spokesman, said current customers will keep their phone numbers with the proposed overlay plan. Phone companies running out of 209 numbers will provide numbers with the new area code to new customers or people adding a line.
The 209 geographic area will have two area codes. After the change takes effect, a Modesto resident with an old 209 phone number might call a new business a half mile away, which has been issued a phone number with the new code.
Prepare to start dialing 10 digits for calls
While minimizing hassles for business owners and large entities like a school district or county government, an overlay does require a conversion to 10-digit dialing.
Local residents for decades have been able to reach someone else in the 209 area by dialing seven digits.
Scott Murray of Modesto said he doesn’t like the change to 10-digit dialing but it’s better than an area code split. “I guess the good news is the area’s economy is growing to the point that it is needed,” he said by email. “More people need to know about this now in order to start preparations if needed.”
People with landlines in older phone exchanges will be more impacted by the tedium of 10-digit dialing. Customers using smart phones have features to automatically dial a 10-digit number for a local call, but they may have to reprogram their contacts from seven- to 10-digit numbers.
Agency officials familiar with the overlay plan said phone customers in the 209 were already headed for 10-digit dialing in October. The Federal Communications Commission approved “988” as the 3-digit dialing code for the national suicide prevention hotline, effective July 16, 2022.
The 209 area has phone numbers with 988 prefixes. If the area were to continue with 7-digit dialing, a call to a 988-XXXX number would not be completed to the intended recipient but routed to the crisis hotline.
Beginning Oct. 24, residents in the 209 must dial 10-digits, or the area code and telephone number, for local calls. An FCC spokesperson said any calls dialed with seven digits may not be completed. A recording will inform the caller to hang up and dial again using the area code and phone number.
The 988 number for the national suicide hotline is scheduled to go into effect July 16, 2022. People in a mental health crisis will be able to dial the three numbers to get help, just as “911” is dialed in an emergency.
Heidi Wayman, a manager for the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, said individuals and businesses in the 209 area may need to reprogram fax machines, speed dials, alarms, cell phone contacts and other devices to dial the area code and phone number before the change in October.
Some telephone carriers are advising customers to use 11 digits (or 1 plus the area code and phone number.)
To prepare for the 988 project, Wayman said word has gone out to alarm associations, 911 dispatch agencies and local jurisdictions. In addition, telephone service providers — there are 54 in the 209 region — have been notifying customers.
What is the new area code number?
The multi-county region won’t have the new area code number before October. What everyone wants to know (the new 3-digit area code) is confidential, Wayman said.
Once the California PUC issues a decision on the overlay plan, the new area code will be assigned and made public and the dates set for implementation.
The telecommunications industry has asked for a CPUC decision on the overlay plan by Nov. 1, 2021, but a decision is more likely in the first quarter of 2022.
Wayman said she does not foresee many issues arising with the overlay method. Local customers will already have left 7-digit dialing behind because of the 988 project. “The new area code sits right on top of the same geographic area. No one takes a number change,” she said.
The tentative date for the new area code to take effect is Oct. 1, 2022.
Chow of the California PUC said telephone service providers may be issuing phone numbers with “209” for months after the fall 2022 date and will use the new numbers when supply runs out. Some companies will have more of the old numbers than other carriers.
Chow said consumer education on the overlay plan is expected in 2022 before the new area code is implemented. The CPUC will make a webcast available to the public June 1 to explain the overlay proposal.
Comments may be emailed to the CPUC Public Advisor’s Office at public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov or mailed to 320 W. 4th St., suite 500, Los Angeles, 90013. Comments should be submitted by Aug. 1.
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 9:58 AM.
