By Joy Hampton
April 1, 2009 — The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has announced numbers within the 918 area code will soon be exhausted. A new area code must be added and public input will help determine the nature of that change.
Public input will be sought at a series of meetings during the month of April. In Claremore, the meeting will be held Thursday, April 9, 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m at the Claremore City Council Chambers, 104 S. Muskogee Ave.
“We want public comment on ways this will impact them. There may be ways people are impacted that is unique, and the commissioners want to know that,” said Matt Skinner, public relations for the Corporation Commission.
There are two ways of adding a new area code, through a split or through an overlay.
In the case of a split, seven digit local dialing would be retained within each area code. This has already occurred in Oklahoma, when the 405 area code was split into two sections, one keeping the 405 area code, while the other was given the area code of 580. The geographic region would be split with half the people assigned a new area code.
In the case of an overlay, existing 918 area code customers would keep their current area code. New customers and those who want new or additional telephone numbers would be given the new area code. The North American Number Plan Administrator is responsible for choosing the new area code. The biggest change is that all local calls will be dialed using 10 digits.
In either case, calls that are currently local will remain local and will not incur long distance.
“We don’t want to change the existing wide area calling,” said Skinner.
The North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) said the 918 area code is expected to run out of phone numbers by the fourth quarter of 2011. Full details, as well as a survey form, will be available at occeweb.com or http://www.occ.state.ok.us/ Residents and businesses can also call the Commission at 405-521-2211 for information. Opinions can also be submitted at 1-800-522-8154.
