Hi Wirt, Sorry, I have to disagree with you :) Ok, so I am not completely Sorry hehehe Up here in the Pacific Northwest (no, we are not still fighting the Indians hehe) we have had lots of these Area Code changes :( Washington has gone from 2 area codes to 6 or 7 (I have lost count :( ) in the last few years.... Oregon (where I am!) has gone from 2 area codes (Jordan Valley, OR has used 208 Idaho's area code for years hehehe) to 3 area codes last year and is considering another one or 2 area codes in the next year or so :( Art "Why not just go to 8 or 9 digit phone numbers???" Bahrs >>> Wirt Atmar <[log in to unmask]> 06/08/97 03:28pm >>> Joe Geiser writes: > Wirt - actually what Nick is talking about, is what's happening in many > areas, including Maryland, where Nick is located --- Area Code Overlays. > Instead of lopping off a geographic area and giving it a new area code, > they overlay the existing area code with another one. > > They're talking about doing that to Philly - not 2 years after placing a > new "610" area code into effect. It is a pain in the @$$... Is this overlay permanent -- or is it merely a transition mechanism? Generally, it's been the rural areas of the US that have had to suffer the discomfort of getting their area codes changed. Only recently has this same process been coming to a major city near you. For a period of about six or nine months, both the old and new area codes are in effect -- and then, on some preset date, they disallow the original area code usage in the newly cleaved area code's region. The pattern you describe is the one that everyone is seeing. The a part of the old Philadelphia area code (215) was partitioned into a second NANP-compatible area code (610) a few years ago -- and is now being partitioned again into new area codes yet again, where any number may be present in the second digit. Wirt Atmar