Looks like they're gonna take away our beloved 760 and leave us with 442.
Could be quite traumatic for some folks, but I sort of like 442 now that I think about it.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nort ... 4code.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
PUC approves plan to switch North County to 442 area code
By Bruce V. Bigelow
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
12:15 p.m. April 24, 2008
The California Public Utilities Commission Thursday approved a plan that creates a new 442 area code for northern San Diego County telephone customers now in the 760 area code.
Consumers may begin dialing the new 442 area code in six months, and will be required to do so in one year.
The commission's vote, at its regular meeting in San Francisco, culminated a formal process that considered several different proposals to address a telephone number shortage in the 760 area code. The process included gathering testimony in three public hearings last year, and from comments submitted by mail and e-mail.
The following areas in the existing 760 area code will comprise the new 442 area code: Borrego, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Escondido, Fallbrook, Julian, Oceanside, Pauma Valley, Pendleton, Ramona, San Marcos, Valley Center, Vista, and Warner Springs.
A recommendation to carve the 442 area code out of north San Diego County was prepared by Maribeth Bushey, an administrative law judge for the commission who evaluated two alternative plans over the past year.
The alternative that was strongly supported by telephone companies called for imposing an overlay in which the 442 area code would be assigned to new customers in the 760 service area. That would have required phone users to dial the area code even when making local calls.
A third alternative would have extended the 442 area code from northern San Diego County to include Ocotillo, El Centro, Brawley and other communities in western Imperial County.
That option was challenged by the commission's Division of Ratepayer Advocates. It argued against splitting communities along the eastern fringe of the Imperial Valley from the seat of commerce in El Centro and other communities on the west side of the county.
In voting to approve Bushey's proposed decision, the commission agreed with her reasoning that it was appropriate to divide the heavily populated region of northern San Diego County from the sparsely populated rural areas that predominate the rest of the 760 area code.
