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OUCC > Consumer Publications > Telecommunications > 930: A New Area Code for Indiana 930: A New Area Code for Indiana

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Background | How it works | Timeframe | FAQs | More Info

 

 

Indiana’s newest telephone area code – 930 – will be introduced next year. It will “overlay” the entire 812 area code that has been largely unchanged since 1947.

The new area code is needed because of the dwindling supply of available telephone numbers in the 812 area code. Without 930, the supply of available numbers for southern and south-central Indiana would run out in 2015.

Most area codes that existed throughout the United States and Canada in 1993 have needed the addition of new codes because wireless phones, other competitive services and new technologies have used up the original number supplies. The vast majority of new area codes added since 2005 have used the overlay approach, including the new 364 area code in western Kentucky (which is being added to the 270 area).

On July 31, 2013, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) approved the use of an overlay for 812.

  • The order followed a 7-month public comment period, including a series of 10 IURC public field hearings throughout the 812 area.

  • The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC) filed testimony supporting the overlay method, as did the telecommunications industry.

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How it works

Beginning at some point in 2014 (most likely in September), consumers in the 812/930 area will be required to dial ten digits (area code + number) for local calls, rather than the seven-digit dialing that’s now in place.

  • A six-month transition period will allow consumers to call local numbers either with seven or ten digits, to provide plenty of time to adjust to the changes.

  • All consumers with 812 numbers will keep their current numbers. This applies to both landline and wireless phones, meaning wireless phones will not need to be reprogrammed with new numbers. It also means businesses, not-for-profit entities, etc. will save substantial sums of money that would have otherwise been needed for new stationery, advertising, etc.

  • Calls that are currently local will remain local, and local calling areas will not change.

  • Calls to three-digit services such as 211, 811 and 911 will still work the same way.

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Timeframe

By September 16, 2013, the telecommunications industry will file a plan with the IURC for technical implementation of the new area code, along with a consumer education plan.

A 13-month implementation period will follow.

  • During the first 6 months, the industry will educate consumers and make the necessary technical changes to implement the new area code.

  • The next 6 months will be a transitional, or “permissive dialing,” period.

    • During this time, consumers will be able to make local calls either through seven-digit or ten-digit dialing.

    • This period would run from March 1, 2014 through September 5, 2014 under the telecommunications industry’s proposal, subject to IURC approval.

  • In the last month of the 13-month implementation period, ten-digit dialing will be mandatory for all local calls in the 812/930 area. At the end of the 13-month period, new numbers with the 930 area code may be assigned.

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Frequently asked questions

Q: If I live in the 812 area, what will change the most once the new area code takes effect?
A: Ten-digit dialing will be required for local calls. For example, instead of dialing 555-5555 for a local call, you will need to dial 812-555-5555 or 930-555-5555.

Q: What changes the least?
A: If you have an 812 number, you will keep your 812 number. Area code changes do not change rates or local calling areas.

Q: How is the overlay more convenient than a geographic split?
A: Consumers will not need to have wireless phones reprogrammed with a new area code. Also, businesses, schools, government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and other entities are not as likely to need new signage, stationery and advertising with the area new code.

Q: If I have a home phone with the 812 area code and get a new cell phone, will the new cell phone’s number have the 930 area code?
A: If you get it after the end of the 13-month implementation period, it probably will. After the transition, telephone service providers will still be able to issue any 812 numbers remaining in their inventories. But otherwise, new phones – whether wireless or landline – will have 930 numbers.

Q: Can’t the new area code apply only to wireless phones or only to landlines?
A: No. A 1995 FCC order forbids area codes from being applied to specific technologies, citing that doing so could put certain technologies at a competitive disadvantage.

Q: Has anything been done to keep these changes from being needed?
A: While the addition of new area codes has been inevitable for most of North America, number conservation efforts have prolonged the life spans of many area codes. Years ago, the 812 area code was projected to exhaust its number supply by 2004. But conservation efforts by the state and the telecom industry successfully delayed that by nearly a decade.

Q: How long will it be before southern Indiana needs any more area code changes?
A: Once 930 is implemented, the 930 and 812 area codes are projected to need no additional changes for another 71 years.

Q: Will ten-digit dialing raise my telephone rates?
A: Calls that are free now will remain free after the transition. Also, local calling areas are not affected by area code changes.

Q: Where else has this happened?
A: More than 35 states, including Indiana, have implemented new area codes within the last two decades. Central Indiana’s 317 area code was split in 1996, with the 219 area code in northern Indiana requiring the addition of new codes in 2001. All of Indiana’s neighboring states have either implemented new area codes through overlays, or are in the process of doing so.

Q: How common is the overlay concept, nationwide?
A: All new area codes implemented in the United States since 2008 have used the overlay method.

Q: Will other parts of Indiana need new area codes or ten-digit dialing in the near future?
A: Most likely. The 317 area code, in Indianapolis and most of its suburbs, is projected to use up its available number supply by 2017.

 

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For more information

Previous OUCC Fact Sheets:

OUCC News Releases:

IURC Documents:

North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA):

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The Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor (OUCC) is the state agency that represents utility consumer interests before regulatory and legal bodies. To learn more, visit www.IN.gov/OUCC.

Indiana Office of Utility Consumer Counselor 
115 W. Washington St., Suite 1500 South 
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204

Toll-free: 1-888-441-2494
Voice/TDD: (317) 232-2494
Fax: (317) 232-5923
Website: www.IN.gov/OUCC
E-mail: uccinfo@oucc.in.gov 

Twitter: @IndianaOUCC 
Facebook: IndianaOUCC

(8/13)

 

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