Tuesday, July 16, 1996

Hearing set for possible change in Wichita Falls area code

By MICHAEL BRICK
Harte-Hanks Austin Bureau

AUSTIN - Wichita Falls residents and business owners can speak out to state officials about a likely area code switch in a hearing next month, officials said Monday.

Public Utility Commission officials have scheduled a public hearing on changing area codes for Aug. 15 in Wichita Falls.

State officials predict Wichita Falls and much of West Texas will be forced to change area codes this year due to rapidly depleting numbers in the 817 area code.

"We got together as a group and discussed things but we may have overlooked things that are important to people in the Wichita Falls area," said Carole Vogel, head of the state committee planning the switch.

Dozens of groups, including telephone companies, businesses and the city of Fort Worth, have applied to become intervening parties.

But no representative has stepped forward from West Texas, Vogel said.

All of Eastland, Stephens, Erath, Palo Pinto, Young, Throckmorton, Haskell and Knox counties and part of Stonewall, Callahan and Comanche counties are in the 817 area code.

The planning committee has three proposals, all of which would require Wichita Falls to change area codes.

State Sen. Tom Haywood, R-Wichita Falls, said he will send staff members to the hearing and encouraged area residents to speak out.

"Other parts of our state have been torn apart from the infighting between citizens and the Public Utilities Commission," Haywood said. "I do not want to see this happen to Wichita Falls."

A complete schedule of hearings around the state will be ready Wednesday, a commission spokeswoman said.

Urban areas across the state are running out of phone numbers as nontraditional lines like fax machines and cellular phones grow in popularity.

The state is looking to the 817 area code after mitigating area code battles in Dallas and Houston.
As the commission decides how to break up the 817 code, Fort Worth has population on its side, and the city has begun actively lobbying the commission to keep the 817 code.

And commissioners have said the Dallas and Houston decisions set a firm precedent toward letting the big city keep the area code in a split.

Fort Worth's lobbying efforts include adopting a City Council resolution in favor of keeping the 817 code.