Press Release

Public Meetings Scheduled for 209 Area Code Relief in San Joaquin Valley

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 16, 2000) - Public meetings will be held May 23 and 24, 2000 to receive public comments regarding upcoming area code relief in San Joaquin Valley, a central portion of California, according to NeuStar, Inc., which serves as the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA).

Phone customers in the 209 area code, which includes Amador, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, and most of Mariposa, Merced, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties could receive a new area code as early as March 2002. The 209 area code includes communities such as Lodi, Modesto, Merced, Sonora, Stockton and Turlock. Customers are invited to share their views regarding proposed area code relief plans during the public meetings, which are scheduled as follows:

TUESDAY, May 23, 2000
1:00 P.M.
MERCED
City Council Chambers
678 W. 18th Street, 2nd floor
Merced, CA

WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2000
1:00 P.M.
SONORA
City Council Chambers
94 N. Washington Street
Sonora, CA

WEDNESDAY, May 24, 2000
7:00 P.M.
MANTECA
City Council Chambers
1001 W. Center Street
Manteca, CA

In December 1999, NANPA announced that area code relief would be needed for the 209 area code within the next 27 months. The 209 area code is projected to run out of available prefix codes during the second quarter of 2003 . This is due, in part, 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 allocates phone numbers in blocks of 10,000.

The area code relief plans will not affect the cost of placing a call.

Following the public meetings, NANPA officials will meet with the telecommunications industry to review the public input before forwarding the industry's recommendation to the California Public Utilities Commission, which has final approval for the plan.

A telecommunications industry group, comprised of various industry segments, collectively develops area code relief plans for the state of California. Relief activities for the state of California 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.