ARCHIVED - Telecom Decision CRTC 2013-575

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Route reference: Telecom Notice of Consultation 2012-655

Ottawa, 30 October 2013

Area code relief for area codes 226 and 519 in southwestern Ontario

File number: 8698-C12-201214923

In this decision, the Commission determines that area code relief for area codes 226 and 519 in southwestern Ontario is to be provided by implementing a distributed overlay of new area code 548, effective 4 June 2015,and that, for planning purposes, area code 382 is to be set aside for future relief. The Commission also approves a jeopardy contingency plan and requests that the relief planning committee file a revised relief implementation plan to reflect the relief implementation date of 4 June 2015.

Introduction

1. On 17 October 2012, the Canadian Numbering Administrator (CNA) informed the Commission that the results of the latest numbering resource utilization forecast (NRUF) indicated that area codes 226 and 519 serving southwestern Ontario would exhaust by January 2017.

2. The Commission subsequently issued Establishment of a CISC ad hoc committee for relief planning for area codes 226 and 519 in southwestern Ontario, Telecom Notice of Consultation CRTC 2012-655, 29 November 2012, in which it established a relief planning committee (RPC) to examine options and make recommendations for providing additional numbering resources in the area served by area codes 226
and 519.

3. The July 2013 Relief NRUF (R-NRUF) results, issued by the CNA in early
October 2013, showed that the exhaust date had advanced to September 2015.

The RPC’s submission

4. The RPC filed with the Commission a planning document, dated 17 May 2013, which included its recommendations regarding the relief measures to be taken for area codes 226 and 519. The planning document also included a jeopardy contingency plan that would come into effect if a jeopardy condition^[1] were declared for area codes 226 and 519. The RPC also filed a relief implementation plan, dated 17 May 2013.

5. In the planning document, the RPC evaluated five relief options and, based on its analysis, recommended that

• area code relief be provided by implementing a distributed overlay of a new area code on area codes 226 and 519, with an effective date of 4 June 2016; and
• area code 548 be used as the new area code, and area code 382 be reserved for subsequent relief.

6. The relief implementation plan included a schedule for relief implementation, as well as the network and consumer communications activities that would need to be completed as part of the relief implementation process.

7. The Commission considers that the RPC’s recommendations raise the following issues:

I. What relief method should be used and when should it be implemented?

II. Which area code should be used for relief?

III. Should the Commission approve the jeopardy contingency plan included in the planning document?

IV. Should the Commission approve the relief implementation plan?

I. What relief method should be used and when should it be implemented?

8. The Commission notes that overlay area codes have previously been introduced in the region served by area codes 226 and 519, which required the implementation of
10-digit local dialing. The Commission therefore considers that the introduction of another overlay area code would present minimal issues to carriers and very minimal disruption to subscribers.

9. The Commission notes that the RPC recommended that the new overlay area code be implemented on 4 June 2016. The Commission notes, however, that the latest
R-NRUF indicates that the exhaust date has advanced to September 2015, which is before the relief date recommended in the planning document. The Commission considers that it is necessary to advance the relief implementation date so that relief is in place prior to the exhaust of the current area codes. The Commission notes that advancing the implementation date should not impact the ability of the industry and subscribers to prepare. The Commission considers, therefore, that the implementation of the new area code overlay should be advanced by one year to 4 June 2015, which will provide area code relief approximately three months before the current area codes exhaust.

10. The Commission notes that there is no need for a permissive dialing period^[2] prior to the introduction of the new area code, as 10-digit dialing is already in place.

11. Accordingly, the Commission determines that the region served by area codes 226 and 519 is to be overlaid with a new area code, effective 4 June 2015.

II. Which area code should be used for relief?

12. The Commission considers that it is a good assignment practice to use an area code that has not been used as a central office (CO) code within the area to be served, or in areas adjacent to it, because this reduces the potential for customer confusion during dialing. The RPC’s analysis of available area codes in the Canadian area code pool determined that area codes 548 and 382 both meet this criterion, and recommended that area code 548 be used for the current area code relief and area code 382 be reserved for future relief.

13. In terms of reserving a future area code, the Commission considers that there could be significant changes in the telecommunications industry before further future area code relief is required for area codes 226, 519, and 548, and that it would be desirable to maintain a degree of flexibility in the future assignment of area codes to meet unforeseen circumstances. However, the Commission considers that setting aside area code 382 as the most suitable area code for future relief in southwestern Ontario would be beneficial for planning purposes.

14. Accordingly, the Commission determines that area code 548 is to be used for current area code relief and that, for planning purposes, area code 382 is to be set aside for potential future relief.

III. Should the Commission approve the jeopardy contingency plan included in the planning document?

15. The RPC’s planning document included a jeopardy contingency plan that would come into effect if a jeopardy condition were to be declared in the region served by area codes 226 and 519 before area code relief is completed. This plan included a number of measures to conserve CO codes and increase the size of the pool of CO codes available for assignment. It also included measures to restrict the assignment of CO codes to carriers, depending on the severity of the jeopardy condition.

16. One of the provisions of the plan is to limit carriers to their forecasted CO code requirements as submitted to the CNA. However, the Commission considers that the forecast that should be used for this purpose is the last forecast submitted to the CNA immediately prior to a jeopardy condition being declared. The Commission considers that all other elements of the jeopardy contingency plan included in the planning document are acceptable.

17. Accordingly, the Commission approves the jeopardy contingency plan included in the planning document, with the one modification noted in paragraph 16 above.

IV. Should the Commission approve the relief implementation plan?

18. The relief implementation plan included a detailed implementation activity schedule, a consumer awareness plan, and a network implementation plan. The Commission notes that the recommendations and milestones included in the relief implementation plan will need to be revised by the RPC due to the change in the relief implementation date as determined in this decision.

19. Accordingly, the Commission requests that the RPC file a revised relief implementation plan within 60 days of the date of this decision.

Secretary General

Date modified:

2013-10-30