Alberta (403) Area Code Split, 1999
September 2, 1997. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Alberta will have a second area code - 780 - in use in 1999, TELUS Corporation announced today. Areas and communities north of Red Deer and Stettler will be assigned new area code 780. All areas and communities south (including the central communities of Red Deer and Stettler) will retain the present 403 code. TELUS will conduct an awareness campaign about the change throughout 1998, leading up to putting 780 in service January 25, 1999. Toll-free number 1-888-223-0300 is in place for customers who have any questions about the area code change. Growth projections last year found that with only the 403 area code in Alberta, there would be no new telephone numbers available by the end of 1999, when 7.8 million telephone numbers will be required in the province. The southern part of Alberta will retain the 403 area code because it is growing more rapidly and has more corporate head offices doing approximately twice as much international, toll and overseas calling as northern Alberta. Telecommunications industry players have held meetings, consulted with outside agencies and settled on the geographical split for the new area code. The plan and number were approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and Bellcore - the North American Numbering Plan Administrator. Prepare to change ALL of your advertising, business cards, documentation, web sites, and other similar materials. Look forward to lost revenue as national and international customers fail to contact you because of the "split". Fear the costly nightmare of re-programming computer systems, switches, databases, and more. Don't forget to contact everyone you know so you can tell them you have a new area code. Delight in big fat phone bills that force you to pay for your own torture! All of this in the face of steadily increasing basic phone service rates. "Basic human communication at a basic human price" - indeed.