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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Switch In Area Codes Looming In Oregon

From Staff And Wire Reports

As of Sunday, calls into much of Oregon must be dialed using a new area code, 541.

Only the northwest corner of the state, incorporating Astoria, Portland and Salem, will continue to have the 503 area code.

The 541 code has been in place since Nov. 5, but callers have been able to use either the old or new numbers since then.

If a 503 area code is dialed for an eastern Oregon call after Saturday, callers will be told to hang up and redial.

Mike Bevis, a GTE customer relations specialist, advised businesses to update their telecommunications equipment to make sure connections with eastern Oregon customers are not tripped up by the code switch-over.

, DataTimes