TO: EDITORS, NEWS DIRECTORS

DATE: October 24, 2000

FOR: IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Public Comment Sought from Kingman Area Residents on 520 Area Code Relief
520 Area Code Soon to be Out of Numbers

PHOENIX - Experts forecast that the 520 area code will run out of available prefixes within the next year. The entire state of Arizona, with the exception of the Phoenix metro area, is served by the 520 area code. Competition in telecommunications and the rapid proliferation of cellular phones, pagers, fax machines and enhanced Internet services are just a few of the reasons that supply of available numbers is dwindling. The Arizona Corporation Commission would like input from the public on two proposed relief options: an overlay or a geographic split.

A geographic split essentially draws a line through an existing area code and assigns a new area code to customers on one side of the line. The other side retains their existing area code. An overlay adds a new area code to an existing geographic region. This means that two area codes will work in the same general area. New customers or customers requesting new lines of service would be assigned the new area code. (Please see "All About Area Codes" for more details on both options.)

The Commission will hold a public comment session on Friday, October 27 in Kingman at the Holiday Inn on 3100 E Andy Devine. Commissioner Bill Mundell will chair the session which is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

About the process:

Public comment sessions are formal proceedings. Residents will be asked to introduce themselves by name and then present their comments to the Commissioner(s) or company representatives. A court reporter will transcribe all comments shared at the proceeding. Citizen input becomes a part of the official record that the Commissioners review prior to making any final decisions on pending matters.

For more information on the meeting, please contact the Public Information Officer, Heather Murphy, at (602) 542-0844.

EDITORS: The Commission is working on a schedule for public comment sessions in other communities. We have a tentative date of Friday, November 3 for public comments on this matter in Tucson. Additional details on this and other public comment sessions will be forthcoming.