Indiana Utility
Regulatory Commission
302 West Washington
Street, Room 306
Indianapolis
Indiana 46204
317.232.2297 office
317.233.1982 fax
Contact: Mary Beth Fisher
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission today assigned new area code
numbers for two of the three regions in northern Indiana.
The Area designated “A” includes such cities as: Gary, East Chicago, Michigan City,
Valparaiso, and Rensselaer will have the area code 219.
The Area designated “B” includes such cities as: South Bend, Elkhart, Winamac Logansport and
Monticello will have the area code 574.
The Area designated “C” includes such cities as: Lagrange, Fort Wayne, North Manchester,
Silver Lake, Wabash, Warren and Portland will have the area code 260.
On June 14, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission approved a
three-way geographic split relief plan for the area now served by the 219 area
code. Due to the similarity in size of
the regions the IURC held a drawing at its regular conference meeting to
determine which area would keep the 219 area code.
First index cards with the letters A, B and C were put in envelopes and
drawn from a glass bowl to determine the order that the geographic areas would
be assigned numbers. Then envelopes
containing index cards with the area codes on them were drawn.
The implementation of the 219 relief plan begins with the introduction
of the new area codes through a series of educational efforts by the telephone
companies. It will be followed by a
six month “permissive” dialing
period. During that time, customers can
use either the old 219 or the new area code to place calls within the new area
code.
Mandatory use of the new area codes will begin mid-summer
2002. Because the 219 area code was split three ways, it’s estimated there will
not be another need for area code relief for 21-years.
The numbers are administered by NeuStar, Inc., which was selected by the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to serve as the North American
Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA).
NANPA is a neutral, third-party administrator that works with the
telecommunications industry to develop area code relief plans, and oversees the
assignment of area codes, three-digit center office codes, carrier
identification codes and other numbering resources throughout the United
States, Canada, Bermuda and many Caribbean islands.
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