The Peru Gazette

Peru Gazette Note: This change will also apply in the North Country.

The state Public Service Commission approved the use of a second area code just last week after several months of debate over the plan, which is needed because phone companies are quickly running out of new 10 digit numbers that can be generated using the 518 area code. With the creation of the new 838 area code, eastern New York is well-positioned to accommodate future growth in this important sector of the economy, and it will ensure that local telephone service remains efficient. Just four months ago, officials with the North American Numbering Plan Administrator, the organization that manages area codes in the U.S., Canada and parts of the Caribbean, predicted that the 518 area code would last until 2019. The key quality, however, of a relief area code is that it doesn’t cause confusion with the existing area code or neighboring area codes. “The idea is to find a relief area code that can reduce customer confusion and potentially avoid dialing similarities with surrounding (area codes),” said John Manning, a senior director at NANPA. Over the summer when the PSC was holding public hearings on the need for a second area code, the biggest debate was whether to split the region into two area codes or do an “overlay” in which new customers get the second number and existing customers get to keep their number.

Source: Capital Region, say hello to area code 838 – Times Union