Press Release

Area Code Relief Planned for Central Florida
689 will be the New Overlay Code

Washington, DC (April 1, 2002) --- The North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) announced today that a new overlay area code ???(689)??? has been assigned to the Central Florida area.

The area currently served by the 407/321 area codes, consisting of Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties, has been assigned the 689 overlay code. The Brevard County portion of the 321 area code remains unchanged. The 407/321 area codes are projected to exhaust First Quarter 2004. The activation date for the new 689 area code has been set for July 15, 2002. The specific customer education plan for the new overlay code will be determined at a later date.

The 407/321 area code relief plan was recommended by a telecommunications industry group. The group considered several alternatives for relief of the 407/321 calling area before reaching agreement on this overlay plan. The Florida Public Service Commission approved the overlay relief plan last month.

In the overlay plan, an additional area code is added to the same geographic area currently served by the existing 407/321 area codes. All existing numbers will retain their current area code, but new telephone customers for local phone service, cellular and paging services, and alarms, may be assigned a telephone number in the new overlay area code (689).

In Florida, all local calls made within and between the 407/321 area codes and the new (689) area codes will continue to be made by dialing 10-digits. The current dialing arrangements remain the same.

Thomas C. Foley, NANPA's area code relief planner for the Eastern Region, which includes Florida, said the introduction of the new 689 area code is needed due to an increase in competition in the local phone service market and the growing demand by the public for additional telephone numbers.

Foley said the addition of the new overlay area code would not affect the cost of telephone calls. "Local calls will remain local calls regardless of the area code dialed," he noted.

A telecommunications industry group, comprised of service providers from various industry segments, collectively develops area code relief plans for Florida. Relief activities for the area codes in Florida are administered by Neustar, Inc., which was selected by the FCC to serve as the NANPA.

NANPA is the neutral, third party administrator that works with the telecommunications industry in developing area code relief plans. NANPA also oversees the assignment of area codes, three-digit central office codes, carrier identification codes, and other numbering resources throughout the United States, Canada, Bermuda and 16 Caribbean countries.

For media inquiries, please contact Bill Stern, spokesman for the North American Numbering Plan Administration, at 202-533-2648.