Press Release

Two New Overlay Area Codes Assigned to Pennsylvania's 215/267 and 610/484 Calling Areas
445 and 835 Will Be the First Ever Relief of an Existing Overlay Area Code

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 9, 2000) - The North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) announced today that two new overlay area codes have been assigned to southeastern Pennsylvania.

The area currently served by the 267 and 215 area codes has been assigned the 445 overlay code, while the 484 and 610 calling area has been assigned the 835 overlay code. The 215/267 and 610/484 calling areas are projected to exhaust 1Q2003 and 4Q2001, respectively. Activation of the 445 and 835 overlay codes may begin as early as late fall of this year.

The area code relief plans were recommended by a telecommunications industry group, which considered several alternatives for relief of the two areas before reaching agreement on the overlay plans. These two relief plans are the fourth and fifth overlay plans adopted in Pennsylvania, and mark the first ever relief of an existing overlay. In June 1999, the 267 and 484 overlay area codes were placed into service in Pennsylvania to relieve the 215 and 610 area codes, respectively.

In an overlay relief plan, an additional area code is added to the same geographic area currently served by the existing area code(s). All existing numbers will retain the current area code (215/267 and 610/484), 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 (445 and 835, respectively).

In addition, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires that all telephone calls made in an overlay area code use a 10-digit (area code + seven digit phone number) dialing plan. In Pennsylvania, all calls made within and between the 215, 267, 445, 610, 484, and 835 area codes must be made dialing 10-digits.

Frank Colaco, NANPA's area code relief planner for the Eastern Region, which includes Pennsylvania, said the introduction of the new 445 and 835 area codes is needed due to an increase in competition in the local phone service market, the growing demand by the public for additional telephone numbers, and a technical requirement in the phone network that currently allocates phone numbers in blocks of 10,000.

Colaco said the addition of the new overlay area codes will 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 various industry segments, collectively develops area code relief plans for the state of Pennsylvania. Relief activities for area codes in Pennsylvania are administered by NeuStar, Inc., which was selected by the FCC to serve as the NANPA. NANPA is a 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.

Visit NANPA online at www.nanpa.com.

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