11/20/2022 0 Comments 208 area code![]() Most said they wanted to stick with seven-digit dialing. Roughly two-thirds of the 41 public comments the commission received favored a geographic split and one-third wanted the overlay. Industry comments from telecommunications providers and utilities commission staff recommendations were unanimous in favoring the geographic overlay. “They probably did the best they could do under the circumstances,” she said. But she said a north-south split would have been worse, if Boise got 208 and everyone in the north had to change. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, a longtime critic of the Public Utilities Commission, noted that she didn’t recall the commission holding any town-hall meetings about the issue in her North Idaho district. ![]() They noted that a phase-in period and the auto-dial function of cellphones would mitigate some of the inconvenience. But commissioners concluded that the overlay approach would cause less disruption and expense and make “everyone in the state… equally incur the annoyance of ten-digit dialing.” “Neither option is ideal,” the commission said in its order. That would have kept seven-digit calling within each of the two zones. ![]() The Public Utilities Commission rejected an alternative proposal for a geographic split, meaning half the state would get the new code and half would keep 208. Idaho is projected to run out of 208 numbers by the first quarter of 2018. Half of those states have a second code under consideration. Idaho was assigned the 208 area code in 1947, and it’s one of 12 states that still have just one area code statewide. When the new code comes in, everyone will have to dial 10 digits for in-state calls. That news follows the Idaho Public Utilities Commission’s unanimous decision Monday to implement the new area code as a “geographic overlay,” meaning new numbers statewide will get a 986 area code and existing numbers will keep 208. BOISE – Idaho will add a second area code – 986 – in late 2017. ![]()
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