East Bay getting new 341 area code

Life in the East Bay, which is complicated enough, is going to get more complicated with the addition of a new telephone area code.

341 is coming.

The California Public Utilities Commission acknowledged the obvious Thursday — the East Bay is overrun with people who cannot put their phones down. It will soon run out of phone numbers within its existing 510 area code.

The new area code of 341 will be “overlaid” in the 510 area, which means that next-door neighbors will soon have different area codes. Most new area codes are overlaid into existing areas, to save current customers from the need to change their phone numbers. But it means that an area code is no longer unique to an area.

“Overlays present the least disruption,” said PUC spokesman Christopher Chow.

For decades, the geography of the Bay Area has been sliced like a Thanksgiving turkey by the area code czars. The 510 code was carved from the 415 area code in 1991. Seven years later, the 510 area code was overlaid with the 925 area code. The Bay Area now has eight

area codes — 707, 415, 628, 925, 510, 650, 408 and 669.

The PUC briefly considered dividing rather than overlaying the existing 510 area, before deciding it wouldn’t work.

“A split for 510 is not feasible as splitting the 510 would fail to comply with (rules) with regard to considering city and county boundaries during relief plan evaluation. A split for the 510 would split Oakland and Piedmont, dividing city offices and phone systems into two area codes, resulting in costly and disruptive impacts to Oakland and Piedmont, and possibly affecting response time to 911 emergency calls,” the PUC said in a statement.

341 will be assigned to new phone customers in western Alameda and Contra Costa counties, starting in August 2019. Beginning in July 2019, callers in the existing 510 area code will be required to include the area code when calling within the current area code region to avoid having their calls answered by the timeless recording saying you messed up.

Current customers with 510 area codes will not be required to change their numbers.

Legacy area code phone numbers, considered by some a status symbol, are still for sale on the internet, along with everything else. Several firms are offering phone numbers with area codes of 415 (San Francisco) and 408 (San Jose), along with such nostalgic area codes as 212 (New York) and 213 (Los Angeles). But more and more, the notion of geographic area codes has gone the way of the recorded voice of the Time Lady.

In the East Bay, a handful of entrepreneurs have adopted the “510” as part of their business names. There is a “510 Skate Shop,” a “510 Brand” T-shirt shop, a “Chapter 510” children’s writing workshop, a “Bureau 510” restaurant, a “510 Drainage” service and a “Yo 510” karaoke bar. It was unclear how many of them would be required to change their phone numbers or would be motivated to change their names.

Saylor Thomas, an employee at the 510 Skate Shop in Berkeley, said the store is “not too defensive” about having to share the area code with the newbies of area code 341.

“It should be fine,” he said. “We’re all right with sharing. It goes with skateboarding. I don’t think our name is going to change because of this.”

Tavia Stewart, the founder of the “Chapter 510” children’s writing workshop in Oakland, said she’s not changing the name either, because 510 means Oakland and “is easy to say” while 341 “has too many mouth movements.”

“A new area code makes us more proud than ever to be 510,” she said. “We’re part of the original. We will carry the legacy forward.”

The nation’s area codes are tracked by the North American Numbering Plan Administration, an independent agency based in Sterling, Va., and hired by the FCC to track phone numbers and area codes and make recommendations to state regulatory agencies when new ones are needed.

Beth Sprague, the director of code administration, said the day of reckoning is coming.

Sooner or later, the country will run out of new area codes, in much the same way that area codes are running out of phone numbers.

That day will probably occur in 2048, Sprague said. Planners are already trying to figure out what to do about it, but it could involve adding extra digits to area codes.

“The industry has been thinking about this,” she said. “We have to come up with a plan by 2028.”

In recent years, Sprague said, new area codes will continue to be overlays, not geographical splits. The last new area code that involved a geographical split, she said, occurred in New Mexico in 2007. Albuquerque kept its 505, but much of the rest of the state became 575.

“It didn’t go well,” Sprague said. “It was difficult because of all the new apps. The industry definitely doesn’t want to do splits.”

Some small-population states — Vermont, New Hampshire and Montana among them — have a single area code and will remain that way indefinitely. Other single area code regions, such as the District of Columbia, are facing overlays sooner rather than later, she said.

As to why phone users get so worked up about area code changes, Sprague said she suspects it’s because phone numbers are part of a person’s identity.

“I guess it’s still a big deal to some people,” she said. “Not to me. It’s just a number.”