Saratoga News

Planned split in area codes seems destined to split city of Saratoga

Expanded phone-line use keeps using up numbers

Hearings have been set

By Sarah Lombardo

As if Saratoga school district boundaries weren't difficult enough, soon Saratogans may have area codes separating them from their neighbors.

A new area code for the South Bay and Central Coast areas that currently use the 408 code is expected to be introduced as early as November 1999. Right now, the California/Nevada Codes Administration, an independent planning group that coordinates area-code relief, is looking into about 15 ways to divide the region and assign a new code--and all of them draw a line through Saratoga.

City officials are scheduled to meet with members of the code administration and representatives of the Public Utilities Commission in the next few weeks. At a recent council meeting, councilmembers said they hoped to persuade code administrators and the PUC to keep Saratoga's area codes intact, or at least assign the entire city a new code instead of splitting it into two. But the odds don't look good.

"There's little chance we won't be split," City Manager Larry Perlin said.

According to Risa Hernandez, PUC project manager for area-code relief, the decision on where to draw the lines for new area codes is based on where rate centers are located, not where city limits end.

"Rate centers are where the phone lines are actually hardwired," she said. "Rate center boundaries come into play, and they don't always match political boundaries."

Most of the alternatives being considered seem to split Saratoga at Highway 85. In some scenarios, residents on one side of the highway would keep the 408 area code, and the rest would be assigned a new code; in others, it's reversed. Two scenarios do keep most of Saratoga in the same area code, with only a small southeastern corner of the city getting a different code than the rest.

Areas currently in the 408 area code include most of Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties, in addition to parts of Alameda, Merced, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo and Stanislaus counties. The second 408 split will happen just 16 months after Santa Cruz and part of Monterey County get their new 831 area code this July.

The new area code is needed, according to Hernandez, because of an exploding demand for new phone numbers.

"The way we live today has put a big demand on the need for phone numbers," she said. "Today, everyone has a second line in their house, pagers, computers--all of which use phone numbers."

Hernandez pointed out that point-of-sale networks, such as ATMs at checkout stands, also require phone lines.

The demand for more phone numbers has been so great, in fact, that the 408 area code split comes years before it was expected to be needed, which was 2001.

And the 408 code region isn't the only area experiencing such a need for numbers. California now has 18 area codes, more than any other state, and is expected to need another five by the end of this year, according to CNCA information.

A series of public meetings is scheduled, and Hernandez said residents are encouraged to attend and voice concerns about the proposed changes. Four meetings in all will be held in the 408 area: two on Monday, April 20, from 1 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., in the San Jose City Council Chambers; and two on Thursday, April 23, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Los Gatos Civic Center on Main Street, and from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Morgan Hill Council Chambers.

Boundaries for the new area code and the code itself will be announced later this year.

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