Newark, N.J. -- Ever wonder how many grains of sand repose on the seashore? Or how many stars twinkle in the sky? Or how many telephone numbers fill the White Pages?

Unlike the infinite stars and grains of sand, the number of telephone numbers is fixed, and eventually the supply will run out. That's about to happen in New Jersey's 609 area code.

The unprecedented popularity of cellular telephones, business lines, multiple residential lines, pagers, FAX machines and dedicated computer lines is about to exhaust South Jersey's supply of telephone numbers.

So Bell Atlantic is preparing to create a new area code, and we're about to ask the Board of Public Utilities how we should do that.

One method for creating new area codes would split the 609 area in half, divide communities and force millions of customers in suburban Philadelphia to change their telephone numbers.

The alternative, known in telecommunications parlance as an "overlay," doesn't cut towns in half and doesn't force customers to change their telephone numbers. Bell Atlantic favors this plan.

Here's how an overlay would work in 609: before telephone numbers are exhausted, a new area code would be created within the same geographic boundaries as 609. When all 609 phone numbers have been taken, new numbers would be issued with a new area code.

As simple as the overlay sounds, it does come with one minor inconvenience. Once an overlay has been introduced, South Jersey callers will need to dial 10 digits (area code + seven-digit number) to make some local calls.

Next-door neighbors, for example, could have different codes.

But thousands of New Jerseyans already dial 10 digits to make local calls. A call between Princeton and Monmouth Junction is a local call. But because Princeton is in 609 and Monmouth Junction is in 908, a caller from Princeton must dial 10 digits to reach Monmouth Junction.

Moreover, statewide 10-digit dialing is inevitable even with a geographic split because the demand for numbers will continue even after new area codes are added. The 908 area code was split from 201 in 1991 -- just five years ago. If geographic splits are used to create new area codes every three-to-five years, New Jersey will be dotted with town-sized area-code zones.

So after a series of splits, customers will be dialing 10 digits to call from town to town, anyway. The only difference is, that every time another split is announced, thousands of businesses will have to spend millions of dollars changing telephone numbers on stationery, trucks, billboards, print ads, television ads, business cards, automatic dialers and fax machines.

With an overlay, all of that inconvenience and unnecessary cost can be avoided.

Questions commonly asked about the overlay:

If I have one area code and I make a local call to another area code, will that call cost me more than it did before the addition of the new area code?
Absolutely not. New area codes do not mean higher telephone rates. Regardless of how many digits a customer dials, a local call before the addition of new area codes will remain a local call afterward.

Bell Atlantic computes its rates by measuring the distance between the origin of the call and the place of completion. The number of area codes a call passes through does not by itself determine the price of the call.

What part of the current 609 area would change its numbers if a split is approved?
The western portion of South Jersey -- the area that corresponds roughly to the suburbs of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Del. -- would receive a new area code under a split.

In other words, with a split one million customers in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland counties would need to change their area codes.

How many towns would be broken by a geographic split?
A geographic split would cut through eight towns: Dennis, Maurice River, Buena Vista, Monroe, Winslow, Waterford, Medford and Willingboro.

How many towns would be broken by an overlay?
Not one -- now or in the foreseeable future.

How many South Jersey customers would need to change their current area codes with an overlay?
Not one. An overlay allows customers to keep their current area codes and numbers.

Will either method of area-code relief affect plans for local competition?
Not at all. Customers who take their business to a local-service provider other than Bell Atlantic will not have their telephone numbers changed. This feature of local competition, known as number portability, is mandated by the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1995.

Why can't New Jersey do a geographic split without dividing towns?
Because telephone circuits frequently cross municipal lines and cannot be reconstructed at anything approaching a reasonable cost. The circuits are situated that way for two reasons:

The first is that New Jersey's telephone system evolved with population, not town boundaries in mind. That is, circuits were constructed near population centers, and those centers did not necessarily correspond to town boundaries.

The second is that many circuits, while now constructed of modern equipment, originally were laid down before some New Jersey towns were incorporated.

How many telephone numbers are there in New Jersey?
Theoretically, each area code generates 8 million numbers. But because some number combinations can't be used -- numbers that begin with 1 or 0, for example -- each area code actually has about 7.7 million useable numbers. So New Jersey's three area codes have a total of 23.1 million numbers.

When did New Jersey get its first area code?
The 201 area code was created in 1951. It was followed in 1963 by 609, and in 1991 by 908. When 908 was carved out of 201, the new telephone numbers created in both area codes were projected to last until 2005. Currently, 201 is expected to run out in June 1997 and 908 will run out in October 1997. Numbers in the 609 area are expected to exhaust in the second quarter of 1998.

Have other states approved an overlay like the one Bell Atlantic is proposing for New Jersey?
State regulators in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York have approved overlays.

Bell Atlantic Corporation (NYSE: BEL) is at the forefront of the new communications, entertainment and information industry. In the mid-Atlantic region, the company is the premier provider of local telecommunications and advanced services. Globally, it is one of the largest investors in the high-growth wireless communication marketplace. Bell Atlantic also owns a substantial interest in Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and is actively developing high-growth national and international business opportunities in all phases of the industry.

Media contacts:

Tim Ireland (201-649-2279)
timothy.ireland@bell-atl.com

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