SENATE COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE, Nos. 1534 and 1681

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

ADOPTED JANUARY 23, 1997

Sponsored by Senators BUBBA, SCOTT, SINAGRA, Palaia, Haines, Kosco, Kyrillos, Cafiero, Singer, Bennett, Cardinale, McNamara, Ciesla, Sacco, Matheussen, Inverso, Connors, Baer, Rice, Girgenti, Casey, O'Connor and Codey

An Act concerning telephone area codes and supplementing Title 48 of the Revised Statutes.

      Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

      1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Area Code Integrity Act."

      2. a. The Board of Public Utilities, hereinafter, "the board," shall require a telephone company that assigns telephone area codes in this State to assign such codes on a geographic basis rather than on an overlay or superimposing basis. The area codes shall be assigned so that a single municipality in this State shall be assigned no more than one such area code.

      b. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection a. of this section, if the Federal Communications Commission shall authorize, or the Congress shall by law permit, the board shall require a telephone company that assigns telephone area codes to assign area codes on an overlay or superimposing basis but only for the purpose of providing additional telephone numbers to cellular mobile telephones and portable pagers or paging devices.

      3. a. The board shall establish, within 90 days of the effective date of this act, in rules and regulations adopted pursuant to the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), the criteria and procedures to be utilized in making a determination concerning a plan filed with the board by a telephone company to assign telephone area codes in this State.

      b. The criteria to be adopted by the board pursuant to this section shall include, but need not be limited to, specifications that:

      (1) prohibit the splitting of a single municipality into two or more area codes, except as provided in section 2 of this act;

      (2) promote effective competition among telephone companies seeking to provide telephone services within specific geographic areas, classes of customers or types of services;

      (3) facilitate customer access to, and ease of use of, the services to be provided by telephone companies to residences and businesses; and

      (4) expand the use of the latest available technology to provide telephone services within specific geographic areas, classes of customers or types of services.

      c. The board shall utilize the criteria adopted pursuant to this section in making a determination concerning a new area code plan submitted to it by a telephone company.

      d. The board shall contact public utility commissions in other states to solicit their advice on these matters and to encourage support from these public utility commissions to change federal policy on the overlaying or superimposing of additional area codes for the purpose of assigning telephone numbers to cellular mobile telephones and portable pagers or paging devices.

      e. Any order issued by the board after September 1, 1996, concerning the approval of a new area code plan submitted to it by a telephone company prior to the effective date of this act, shall be reconsidered by the board after the adoption of the rules and regulations pursuant to this section in order to effectuate the goals and requirements of this section and of section 2 of this act.

      4. Nothing in this act shall be construed as:

      a. affecting telephone area codes assigned to municipalities prior to September 1, 1996, notwithstanding that a municipality may have been assigned more than one such code; or

      b. applying to the assignment of area codes designated in the "800" or "900" series.

      5. This act shall take effect immediately.

Requires the BPU to prohibit telephone companies from assigning more than one area code to a single municipality with certain exceptions.