State regulators decided Thursday to create an area code overlay in the 714 section of Orange County, establishing the second such blended telephone zone in California.
The California Public Utilities Commission's 5-0 vote means that, starting late next summer, callers in the current 714 area will need to dial 10 or 11 digits to complete a local call. Existing telephone customers adding new numbers might wind up with phones in different area codes.
The new code -- 657 -- will cover the Anaheim resort district as well as other communities in northern and central Orange County, including Fullerton, Orange, Santa Ana and Yorba Linda, along with the coastal community of Huntington Beach.
PUC officials acknowledged that requiring cellphone customers making local calls to dial 10 digits and land-line customers to dial 11 digits -- a 1 followed by the area code and individual phone number -- can be inconvenient.
What's more, it will apply to everyone in the 714. So, a phone customer who keeps a 714 number and who calls someone else with a 714 number also will need to dial 10 or 11 digits.
Still, with 714 numbers running out, commissioners said it was the best solution.
Although dialing that many digits "takes some getting used to by consumers, we believe this action is necessary," Commissioner Rachelle Chong said in a news release.
She noted that phone customers in the 714 area will have to reprogram equipment with stored phone numbers, including fax machines and burglar alarm systems, to accommodate the dialing of the new, longer local numbers.
PUC officials have pointed out, however, that overlays can be less of a nuisance than splitting an area into two codes.
That would force customers in the new area to change to an entirely new telephone number, requiring them to notify their friends and clients, and print new business cards and office stationery.
Still, John Nicoletti, a spokesman for Anaheim, expressed the concern that the Orange County overlay will "create lots of visitor and tourist confusion." He noted that 45 million people a year visit the city's resort area, including many foreign tourists drawn to such attractions as Disneyland.
He said that if, for instance, a new restaurant opens by Disneyland with a 657 area code, instead of the existing 714, "people from other areas won't realize that they are right next to each other."
