LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / June 21, 2000

HAHNVILLE – Today’s vote by the Louisiana Public Service Commission will affect phone service throughout the River Parishes – whatever the outcome.

Commissioner Irma Dixon briefed the St. Charles Parish Council Monday,saying the 504 area code is fast running out of available numbers.

Several alternatives were suggested, but only two will be on the table at today’s meeting of the commission. Whatever action is taken will go intoeffect during August 2001.

Even the five commissioners don’t know which way the vote will go.

“We have to decide on Wednesday morning, and we’re still not settled yet,” Dixon told the council. “They just hit me with this two months ago.”One alternative under consideration is an “overlay” area code, where a second area code will be instituted and all new phone numbers assigned will use the second area code while not affecting any present phones, cellular phones, fax machines, websites or other telephone uses.

At one point during the discussion, Dixon asked council members who used cellular phones, had fax machines or had websites. Most raised theirhands. “You’re the reason we’re running out of phone numbers,” she said.This first alternative would give the greater New Orleans area only about 10 years’ relief from the ever-expanding problem of so many phone uses and so few possible numbers.

A second alternative is another geographic split, similar to that when the Lafayette area changes to 337 on July 10 or when the Baton Rouge area went to 225 a few years ago.

This new split would further shrink the 504 area code to New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner and the upper portion of West Jefferson while giving all other sections of the current 504 area a new number.

That would not affect what areas are long distance, though, Dixon said.

“Whatever is long distance now would still be long distance,” she added.

This second alternative would give the greater New Orleans area an estimated 17 years of relief before the problem would again have to be addressed, according to population predictions.

Another alternative suggested was a “universal number” system, in which every single person would be assigned a personal number, and various phone uses by that person would be extensions from that main number.

For example, a person phoning someone would get a recording which would ask if the caller wanted the home phone, fax phone or cellular phone, and then forward the call accordingly.

Part of the growing area code problem, Dixon continued, is because the northshore area, especially St. Tammany Parish, is in the fastest-growingby population area in the United States. New residents are pouring in soquickly, she said, that municipal sewer systems can’t keep up with demand.

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