To meet the South Coast’s need for more telephone numbers, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is taking the first step toward adding an additional area code in the 805 Central Coast region. If it doesn’t, the 805 will run out of three-digit prefixes — the numbers immediately following an area code — in December 2018, according to an April report published by the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA).
“Area code exhaust” will force government officials to introduce a new code by June 2018, said NANPA’s senior director John Manning. With only 792 prefixes in each area code, explained senior Numbering Plan Area (NPA) relief planner Joe Cocke, just 40 remain in the 805. Each prefix forms 10,000 phone numbers, but some are unusable because they start with service numbers like 9-1-1, 2-1-1, or 5-5-5.
“This is a normal life cycle of an area code,” said Cocke, who pointed to similar shifts planned for downtown Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento. “It’s not just unique to the Central Coast.”