SALEM – Ten-digit dialing and a new area code are coming to Grant County and the rest of Eastern Oregon.

The Oregon Public Utility Commission last fall approved an additional area code – 458 – for the region served by 541, effective in 2010. That includes Eastern Oregon and Central Oregon, as well as Southern Oregon and the Southern Willamette Valley.

In preparation for the change, the PUC also is going to launch 10-digit dialing, starting next month.

As of July 12, phone users are encouraged to dial all 10 digits when making any local calls.

There’s a grace period, however. Callers who forget and use just the seven digits will still get connected during the first six months after the change.

Beginning Jan. 10, 2010, calls made without all 10 digits will not be completed and the caller will hear a recording reminding them of the instructions for redialing.

In February 2010, phone service providers will begin assigning the new area code to new phone customers as the remaining 541 numbers are used up.

Current phone users will not have to change their numbers, and their area code will remain 541.

Eventually, that means people living next door to each other could have different area codes.

However, local calls will still be local, and calls that currently are long distance also will remain so. There is no extra charge for calls made under the new system.

The PUC stressed that 9-1-1 emergency calls will still be a three-digit call.

Bob Valdez, PUC public information officer, said he doesn’t expect much concern over the 10-digit dialing.

“A lot of people already are dialing 10 digits when they use cell phones,” he said.

He noted that customers who use specialized telecommunications equipment – such as autodial systems and multiline key systems – may need to reprogram or upgrade their equipment. Agencies that use alarm and security systems also need to be prepared for the change to 10 digits.

Local phone companies are notifiying customers of the change and should be able to help with the transition, he said.

The 458 overlay plan was proposed after officials determined that the 541 region would run out of available phone numbers by 2011 unless they either split the area in two separate codes or added a new code in what’s called an “area code overlay.”

“After weighing the options, we believe that this solution is the least disruptive option and will meet the demand for new telephone numbers more than 20 years into the future,” said Lee Beyer, PUC chair.

The PUC could have opted for the geographic split, which would allow customers to continue using seven-digit dialing. On the negative side, it also would have required about half of the current phone customers in the 541 region to change their telephone numbers.

Folks in the area from Salem to Portland and west to the Pacific Ocean already are living with 10-digit dialing and two area codes.

The state started with just one area code: 503. With population growth, the state in 1995 created the 541 code.

Then, in 2000, the number crunch in the Portland-Salem metro area prompted the PUC to overlay a 971 area code in that part of the region already served by 503. The northwest coastal counties were added to the overlay in early 2008.

The PUC unveiled the options for 541 in a series of hearings across the state last summer, including one held June 26 at the Grant County Fairgrounds in John Day.