May 22, 2001
Regulators To Reopen Area Code Case;
New Number Switched To 575Updated at 5:24 p.m.SANTA FE (AP) - State regulators decided Tuesday
to redial and ask New Mexicans for their views on what parts of the state
should be forced to give up the 505 area code.
There's also a switch in the new area code assigned to New Mexico.
It will be 575, rather than 957.The Public Regulation Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to reopen the area code question in response to an outcry from businesses, government leaders and individuals in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and other cities facing the prospect of changing numbers later this year.
In deciding to revisit their area code decision, the commissioners agreed they should hold more hearings in cities across the state to receive comments from the public.
The hearings likely will start next month, although no dates or locations have been scheduled.
After the hearings conclude, commissioners would vote at a later date on whether to assign the area code differently than what they did earlier this month.
Commissioner Lynda Lovejoy of Crownpoint said the regulatory agency needed to do ``more homework'' to review the costs of requiring the area code change.
The commission voted 3-2 two weeks ago to assign a new area code to the Albuquerque and Santa Fe calling areas, which extends from Los Alamos in the north to Belen in the south. The rest of the state would have retained 505.
An Albuquerque-based group called The 505 Coalition led opposition to the decision, organized a protest and formally asked the commission to rehear the case. The group threatened to appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court if commissioners didn't reconsider their original decision.
David Campbell, an attorney for the coalition, said the group was pleased the commission will reopen the case.
``This last week was a wrong number and the commission has decided to hang up and dial again,'' Campbell said.
The state needs a second area code because it's running out of number combinations in 505 as people and businesses demand more telecommunications services, from second telephone lines to cellular phones.
The coalition wants the Albuquerque-Santa Fe calling zone to retain 505 and have the rest of the state switch to a new number. That's the approach that had been recommended to the commission by telephone companies in the state, which reviewed several options for implementing a new area code.
One of those alternatives was to keep 505 throughout the state for existing customers. The new area code would be required for new customers and those needing additional phone lines. However, that approach would mean 10-digit dialing for all calls in the state - even local calling.
Critics of the commission's original decision say regulators failed to adequately consider the potential costs and disruptions of requiring a new area code in cities that are home to state government and federal complexes such as Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories. Albuquerque is the state's largest city, home to a third of the New Mexico population and many large businesses.
But a legislative leader from southern New Mexico is trying to rally support for keeping 505 in rural parts of the state.
Senate Majority Leader Tim Jennings, D-Roswell, has sent letters to county commissioners and city councilors asking them to approve resolutions urging state regulators to retain 505 in rural areas.
Jennings said in a telephone interview that rural areas should not be forced to bear the costs of changing area codes because they haven't enjoyed the wide range of advanced telecommunications services available in Albuquerque and other urban centers.
``If the PRC is going to look at this ... they ought to look at the parity of investment and look at the quality of service'' in rural areas, said Jennings.
The 957 number had been selected for New Mexico by NeuStar Inc., an independent contractor designated by the Federal Communications Commission to administer a telephone numbering plan for North America.
Commissioners had asked NeuStar whether another number option was possible and 575 was offered as an alternative. The commission formally requested its assignment to New Mexico. The company agreed to do that after hearing from state regulators on Tuesday, said Joseph Cocke, a NeuStar official handling area code changes in several Western states.
The commission's vote on the area code assignment earlier this month reflected an urban-rural split among the regulators. Commission chairman Tony Schaefer, Lovejoy and Commissioner Rory McMinn from Roswell voted to assign the new area code to the Albuquerque-Santa Fe urban corridor. Commissioners Herb Hughes of Albuquerque and Jerome Block of Santa Fe wanted rural areas of the state to switch numbers.
McMinn said his support for reopening the area code issue did not mean he had altered his views on keeping 505 in rural areas.
``At this point, I have seen nothing that changes my opinion,'' said McMinn.
The commission has been considering the area code switch since last year. A series of public hearings were held throughout the state last September and October, although commissioners complained that they were poorly attended.
Critics said the commission's notice to the public and the hearings focused on keeping 505 in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe corridor, and that the agency's decision came as a surprise because only in April was there an effort by some commissioners to advance the opposite approach.
©Santa Fe New Mexican 2001
