Utilities board begins looking at 3-1-9 area code overload

With the decision complete on splitting the 5-1-5 area code, the Iowa Utilities Board is now moving ahead to deal with the shortage of phone numbers in the 3-1-9 area code. Board spokesman Rob Hillesland says not many people attended public hearings on the proposed 5-1-5 area code changes, and they’re hoping to get more from the 3-1-9 area.The proposals for the 3-1-9 area code are the same as 5-1-5. One proposal, called an overlay, would give anyone seeking a new phone number a new area code. Customers who retain the 3-1-9 area code though would have to do more dialing as they would have to dial the area code even when making a local call. The other option is to split part of the 3-1-9 area code into a new area code. Hillesland says an overlay was originally proposed for the 5-1-5 area code, but the public meetings made the Utilites Board eventually decide to split the 5-1-5 area code into the new 6-4-1 code.Hillesland says they’ll have 10 public meetings on the 3-1-9 area code.The meetings begin April 25th in Waterloo and Dubuque. Here are the other meetings: April 25, Clinton, Davenport and Iowa City; April 27th, Cedar Rapids, Fort Madison; April 28th, Mt. Pleasant; May 2, Elkader and Decorah.