ARIZONA CORPORATION COMMISSION
1200 W. WASHINGTON
PHOENIX, AZ. 85007

The Arizona Corporation Commission will hold a meeting next week to hear from telephone industry representatives about the possibility that a new area code will be required to serve the Phoenix metropolitan area next year, and to hear recommendations about the approach that should be taken. Commission Chairman Carl Kunasek said, "The telephone industry is responsible for recommending a plan, but has not yet been able to reach a consensus." Kunasek added, "The Commission will meet in a workshop setting to learn more about the alternatives open to the telephone industry".

Commissioners will hear from representatives who advocate the two principal approaches to overcoming the potential exhaustion of available telephone numbers in 1998. One approach is to create an overlay, simply imposing a new area code on top of the same area now served by the 602 area code. The second method, a split, would divide the current 602 area code in two parts. The last change in Arizona area codes was in 1995, when the 602 area code was assigned to the Phoenix metropolitan area, and the 520 area code was created to serve the remainder of the state.

The Commission will meet at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, August 13, 1997 in Hearing Room One, 1200 W. Washington, Phoenix. There will be an opportunity for the public to comment at approximately 11:15 a.m.