Area code overlay not the worst

A new area code overlay that will cover new numbers in much of Huntington Beach may have residents complaining of inconvenience, but business owners say they’re glad to at least get to keep their 714 numbers.

The California Public Utilities Commission decided last week to add a new overlay area code, 657, in the region that has long been home to area code 714, citing a shortage of unused phone numbers. Rather than split the area in half and change existing phone numbers, the commission decided to use 657 for new numbers in the same area.

The new numbers will start being issued a year from now. The region includes many cities in northern Orange County, including Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach.

It’s a lot better to stay in 714 than the alternative, said Scott Campbell, manager of Campbell Realtors, which does business in Huntington Beach.

“I wouldn’t want to do that,” he said. “We would have to redo all our signs and our cards. It would end up being very costly.”

Getting an overlay isn’t ideal, but it’s better than the worst-case scenario, said Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce President Joyce Riddell. That would have involved a geographic split that forced the city to change prefixes altogether.

“We did not want to have the area code changed,” she said. “It’s very costly. We wanted Huntington Beach to stay in 714.”

Still, she said, dialing 10 digits and having to remember an overlay is inconvenient.

The state and phone companies tried to give out numbers conservatively but still have run very low, commission President Michael R. Peevey said in a statement.

While residents and businesses won’t have to change their existing numbers, the downside is that they’ll have to dial more digits — 10, rather than 7 — even within their own area code.

“While 10-digit dialing takes some getting used to by consumers, we believe this action is necessary,” Commissioner Rachelle Chong said in a news release. “Consumers will need to reprogram their stored telephone numbers on all their phones to add the 1 plus area code starting five months from today, and should do so no later than August 2008.”