West Side May Get More Area Codes

Thu., Jan. 25, 1996

From Staff And Wire Reports

Western Washington, which got a second area code last year, may get a third one - or maybe even two more - in early 1997, the state Utilities and Transportation Commission says.

The new codes are needed due to the soaring demand for telephone lines to serve fax machines, cellular phones, computer modems and regular lines, commissioners said Wednesday.

Last year, the 206 area code that had long served all of Western Washington was assigned to the Seattle, Everett and Tacoma areas.

Other parts of the region - about 40 percent of its population - now use the 360 area code. The transition was complicated by widely used phone systems that do not recogize area codes without a one or a zero in the middle, which hurt some businesses.

Even so, the 206 area code is expected to be at full capacity by 1998, said U S West Communications spokesman Harry Grandstrom.

Adding more codes is “just a matter of time,” said U S West spokesman George Chappell.

“More and more people are working at home. Their children, through the school system, are getting accustomed to doing their school work on computers,” he said.

The commission and phone company officials have agreed on three options that will be presented to the public at area hearings. They are:

A separate area code for Seattle.

Two new area codes for the areas north and south of Seattle. Seattle itself would keep 206.

Assigning a new code to new customers in the 206 area regardless of location.

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