818 Area Code Split Proposed as Backup Plan

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY — A state utilities commissioner has recommended an 818 area code split, but only as a last resort if number conservation measures fail to keep pace with demand, officials said Friday.

The tentative proposal, issued late Thursday by Public Utilities Commissioner Joel Z. Hyatt, rivals a plan by Commissioner Josiah Neeper that seeks an overlay. It goes beyond a proposal by Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pulsifer calling for a split only after a state-conducted number utilization study has been completed.

The utilities panel is scheduled to take up all three draft proposals at its Oct. 7 meeting in Los Angeles.

All three proposals are backup plans--required by the Federal Communications Commission--in case number conservation measures fail to provide area code relief.

Industry leaders, consumer advocates and state utilities regulators say they are unable to predict how long an area code could remain intact when preservation measures are in place.

Hyatt’s proposal calls for a geographic split as a backup plan only after several area code preservation measures have been attempted.

A split would divide the San Fernando Valley into two area codes, officials said. Four Valley-area exchanges--Agoura, Canoga Park, Reseda and Van Nuys--would get a new area code that has yet to be determined, and the remaining 12 exchanges would retain the 818 area code.