What is being done to conserve telephone numbers to prevent area code changes every couple of years?
A. The PUC has been working with the industry and consumer groups over the past year to develop methods of conserving numbers. One method, rate center consolidation, was implemented in March 1997 and reduced the number of telephone numbers required to serve the Dallas, Houston and Austin areas. This process will extend the life of the current area codes through the end of this year. Work continues to implement more aggressive methods of conservation, such as distributing numbers in blocks of less than 10,000, and implementing local number portability, which allows customers to keep their phone number if they change phone companies within the same rate center. However, these preventive measures won t be fully tested and ready before Dallas and Houston run out of numbers. Q. Isn t it confusing to have two area codes in one location or one neighborhood or even one house? A. It doesn’t have to be. Think of your phone number as having ten digits rather than seven. Today, for example, consum
