Press Release

    Harrisburg, Pa. - The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission today affirmed its Tentative Order of March 4, 1998, with modifications, on area code relief for the 717 area code region of Pennsylvania.

    The 717 area code region includes north and south-central Pennsylvania stretching from the New York state line to the Maryland border. The Commission reaffirmed its decision to create a new area code by employing a geographic split, but modified the precise location of the split line where it occurs in Schuylkill County. Elsewhere the split line will remain in the same location as provided for in the Commission’s Tentative Order.

    The modification will coincide with the rate center boundaries between the Tower City and Valley View exchanges. The rate centers of Valley View and Tremont, both located in Schuylkill County, will now be included in the new area code region. The rate center of Tower City, which straddles the border of both Schuylkill and Dauphin Counties, will remain in the 717 area code region.

    The national Numbering Plan Administration Code Administrator will assign a new area code number to north-central Pennsylvania while south- central Pennsylvania will retain the 717 area code. The telephone industry which is responsible for implementing the geographic split, will begin a four month permissive dialing period on Dec. 5, 1998, which will end on April 4, 1999. Permissive dialing means customers can continue to use 717 for four months until the new code is in place. After this four month period, customers will begin to use the new area code permanently.

    In areas affected by the split boundary line, customers who dial a party located on the other side of the line will have to dial 1 plus 10 digits to connect a call. However, calls that are now local calls will remain local even with the dialing of 11 digits.

    A copy of this Order and Commissioner statements are available on the PUC web page (http://puc.paonline.com).

SUMMARY POINTS ON THE

PUC’S FINAL 717 AREA CODE DECISION

OF MAY 21, 1998

The Commission affirmed its Tentative Order of March 4, 1998 to geographically split the current 717 area code region with the following modification to the precise location of the split line:

The geographic split line will coincide with the rate center boundaries between the Tower City and Valley View exchanges.

The rate centers of Valley View and Tremont, both located in Schuylkill County, will now be included in the new area code region.

The rate center of Tower City which straddles the border of both Schuylkill and Dauphin Counties, will remain in the 717 area code region.

A four month permissive dialing period will begin on December 5, 1998, and end on April 4, 1999, followed by full implementation.

In areas affected by the split boundary line, customers who dial a party located on the other side of the line will have to dial 1 plus 10 digits to connect a call. However, calls that are now local calls will remain local calls even with the dialing of 11 digits.